Paraplegic BASE Jumper Returns To The Bridge That Paralyzed Him [Video]
Canadian BASE jumper Lonnie Bissonnette is happiest when leaping off tall structures, whether it is a building, a peak, or a bridge.
Bissonnette, 49, has been a BASE jumper for almost 20 years, and nothing has ever stopped him from doing what he liked — not even a dreadful accident that happened a decade ago at a Twin Falls, Idaho bridge that left him a paraplegic.
Bissonnette is the first paraplegic in the world who has leapt from all four objects that stand for BASE — building, antenna, span, and earth.
On July 19, 2004, the BASE jumper had a near-death injury when his parachute wrapped around his legs. He crashed into the water head-first and the impact crushed his spleen, lungs, femur, ribs, shoulder blades, spine, and neck. The jump that left him paralyzed was also his 1,100th jump, The Huffington Post reports.
“From day one, I told everyone, I’d go back to the bridge and jump again. I never felt rushed to do it, but a friend brought up the anniversary and I knew I had to do it on that day.”
Bissonnette spent 5 months in the hospital after his accident and left early against the advice of his doctors. The hospital wasn’t home to an adventurous man like him.
“S**t happens, but it’s how you manage the things that happen to you. It comes down to two choices: Curl up in a corner and suck your thumb or ask yourself, ‘What can I do now?'”
On July 19, Bissonnette went back to the site of the accident to BASE jump again. He made use of a strap system that allows him to keep his wheelchair with him when he jumped, but the system also enables him to release the wheelchair if ever he needs to get rid of it during his fall. The wheelchair also comes with its own parachute, so that it doesn’t crash on anyone in case he ditches it mid-air.
His Twin Falls jump last month was covered by an ESPN film crew and a local BASE jumping community gathered to watch him. As he rolled off the platform and parachuted to the ground, he threw his middle finger in the air and screamed. Bissonnette landed successfully.
Since he is the first BASE jumper to jump from all objects with a wheelchair, he is seeking for sponsors so that he can make his most beloved sport a profession, says Magic Valley. The company that makes his wheelchair is not interested in sponsoring him, saying that they did not approve what he was doing.
Though Bissonnette says that he’d rather he did not go through the accident, he says that being a BASE jumping paraplegic has also given him plenty of opportunities that he would not have gotten if he wasn’t in his present condition. One of the things he is referring to is his inclusion in the new Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! book entitled Reality Shock.
“Being on ESPN was kind of cool, but a lot of people get on ESPN. Not everyone makes Ripley’s.”
With his accident, his belief that life is precious was reaffirmed. “We all can die any single day. Everyone on this earth should have a passion in their life,” he said.
[Image via Extreme Chairing]
