Skydiver Has Seizure in Midair

Skydiving is scary enough under normal circumstances, but how about when a diver suffers a debilitating medical event while in the air?

That’s exactly what happened to the diver in this video, who began having a seizure in midair shortly after jumping out of a plane. His body goes limp and then begins contorting as he twists out of the normal freefall position–face down, limbs splayed out–and falls on his back, totally out of control.

Luckily his “jumpmaster,” a veteran skydiver jumping with him and wearing the GoPro that captured this footage, was incredibly resourceful.

When he initially realizes something has gone wrong, he moves over to his stricken mate but cannot grab his chute before he falls further. The jumpmaster then accelerates his dive to freefall even faster, catches up, and saves this man’s life.