DALLAS, Texas — Following the tragic skydiving death of a teen from Azle, a young woman who survived a similar and horrifying experience is encouraging tougher rules and regulations of the industry.
On March 10, 17-year-old Dayton Bryant passed away in Fremont County, Colorado while on a vacation with his father.
Bryant's family said that he wanted to go skydiving to celebrate his upcoming 18th birthday and that he chose to do a static line jump over a tandem jump with an instructor.
In a static line jump, you disembark from the plane alone, and a cord attached to the plane deploys your parachute for you as you fall.
The technique is well known in military circles and has been an alternative to tandem jumps in the skydiving industry for years. It's also a cheaper alternative to a tandem jump.
But during Bryant's jump, complications arose with his parachute, which spiraled out of control, according to a coroner.
Bryant was heavily involved in music at his school and was a member of the Azle Marching Green Pride. During a vigil following his death, band members played as friends and family mourned.
A FAMILIAR FEELING
When Mackenzie Wethington heard about Bryant's death, her heart sank.
"It was awful because I knew what he was thinking as he was falling, and I knew what he was going through," Wethington said.
In 2014, when she was only 16, Wethington traveled to Oklahoma to skydive with her father. The two were celebrating her good grades and agreed to a static jump when they arrived at the drop zone.
Wethington's father Joe jumped first and made it to the ground with no issues. But when Mackenzie jumped, her parachute got tangled.
"I felt the parachute open, and I immediately looked up and saw that the top and bottom part of the canopy had been tangled together," Wethington said.
An instructor on the ground was telling Wethington to cut her main chute and pull her reserve in a one-way radio to her helmet but she couldn't.
"I kept trying and trying, and I couldn't get it to open," Wethington said. "I just remember screaming 'I can't do it' and then blacking out."
"My life kind of flashed before my eyes and I was like, 'Wow, I'm going to die.'"
Wethington plummeted 3,000 feet into the surface of the Earth. Her father watched frantically from the ground as the entire situation played out.
"I heard the radio operator telling her what to do and I'm like, 'Who is that?'" Joe Wethington said. "When I got to her, it was just unbelievable."
Wethington was conscious when she hit the ground, but doesn't remember any of it.
She had a brain bleed, lacerated her kidneys and liver, broke several vertebrae, three ribs, her clavicle, scapula, and pelvis.
Both of her lungs collapsed, and she broke some of her teeth too. "I didn't think she was going to make it," Joe Wethington said.
But Mackenzie made a miraculous recovery. Without any operations, she was up and walking again in a little over a month.
To this day, she has PTSD and doctors are concerned about brain damage, but she's made a full recovery. "It's unexplainable, it was a miracle, and I was saved by God," Wethington said.
JUMPING WITH ZERO EXPERIENCE
Skydiving and parachuting are regulated through the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA sets basic regulations for equipment, pilots, aircraft involved in jumps, and procedures (like notifying the FAA before a jump and being in constant contact with air traffic control).
The only age restrictions can be found in safety guidelines developed by the U.S. Parachuting Association that the FAA recommends drop zones follow.
At the time of Wethington's jump, minors at 16 or older could static or tandem jump with signed parental consent.
Following her accident, the Wethingtons pushed the USPA to toughen their guidelines. They did, by raising the age restriction for static and tandem jumps to 18.
An official from the USPA said that some minors can still jump if they submit an application, but added that it's not an instant process.
However, both the USPA and the FAA have zero restrictions or regulations surrounding a jumper's experience--specifically when it comes to static jumps.
Meaning, there's nothing keeping a person over the age of 18 with zero skydiving experience from doing a static jump.
In most cases, those jumps go off without a hitch--but Wethington contests that if a problem arises, someone who has never been skydiving is ill-equipped to deal with the issue.
"You have so much adrenaline, now I'm like...Wow, I had no idea what to do in my situation," Wethington said. "I don't think anyone should jump alone the first time."
Her father said at the very least, some experience should be required. "I feel like you should do two or three tandem jumps before a static, just so you know what you're doing," Joe Wethington said. "We need laws, not rules. Rules can be broken."
Ed Scott, the Executive Director of USPA, told WFAA that it's awaiting the outcome of the investigation surrounding Bryant's death and that the organization hasn't made a decision to change any guidelines.
He also added that he doesn't anticipate any changes. Scott also said that most skydiving drop zones don't offer static jumps anymore.
Of the 11 USPA affiliated drop zones in Texas, only 1 in Stephenville offers static jumps per the USPA.
LIVE EVERY MOMENT
Wethington told WFAA that her accident has pushed her to lead a life with purpose, and to not waste a second of the day.
She's now 21 years old, about to graduate from Sam Houston State University, and plans to attend nursing school after that.
Her family won a civil suit against the drop zone, where her accident occurred to the tune of $760,000. But Wethington hasn't seen a dime of that money.
The whereabouts of the owner they sued are unknown. "I hate to say it, but everything happens for a reason, and I wouldn't be the person I am without this accident," Wethington said.