Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
He was once describes as ‘the most injured soldier to survive’ and he was told he would never walk, talk or even feed himself again,
but this morning Ben Parkinson reached for the sky and took part in a parachute jump. Fraser Maude was there to watch.
For Ben Parkinson this is another courageous part of an amazing recovery.
Preparing to skydive from 15,000 feet the paratrooper continues to defy the doctors.
Four years ago this weekend Ben was serving in Afghanistan when his Landrover was ripped apart by a roadside bomb.
His back was broken in three places, his lungs were punctured, his legs had to be amputated and he spent 4 months in a coma.
Just about 6,000 feet give me the thumbs up, once you give me the thumbs up what I want you to do then is get your hands back in for me…
Since then his progress has been slow but steady, his speech now good enough to explain why he’s taking to the skies once more.
You want to prove you can still do it. And you want to inspire people as well, don’t you?
He wants to help all the other injured soldiers and raise the profile and inspire anyone who thinks they can’t do things with
disabilities that with the right people around, you can.
Jumping out of a plane is second nature to a Para, and Lance Bombardier Parkinson has still got what it takes.
Now at terminal velocity Ben is dropping at a rate of a thousand feet every 5 seconds.
After freefalling for almost a minute he then has to take control of his canopy.
He had the control, and he put the speed in there, checking his altitude and was flying really, really well and seemed really aware
of everything that was going on which quite unusual for someone who’s just done a tandem skydive,
so that’s fantastic, amazing.
Mission accomplished.
Another challenge beaten, another stage on the road to recovery completed. Ben Parkinson now says his next goal is to make a solo jump.
Fraser Maude, Sky News at the Netheravon Airfield in Wiltshire.
Incredible.