Current Date: 28 May, 2026
{{entry.title}}

Woman survives skydiving accident, discovers she's pregnant

2005, a woman performing her first solo skydive jump survived a parachute malfunction which caused her to slam face first into a parking lot at 50 MPH. During surgery doctors discovered she was pregnant. She made a full recovery and the baby was fine.

Shayna Richardson appeared fully equipped before she jumped to experience her first 10,000-foot accelerated free fall, or AFF as it is known to skydivers.

Before the jump, she stated on a home-made video, “I’m going to walk out, get OK’d,” appearing ecstatic and in complete control.

But something terribly went wrong. Both Richardson’s main and reserve parachute failed to open properly. The 21-year-old started to fall at a speed of about 50 mph and hit the ground face-first in a parking lot in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

Pregnant death dive survivor is now mother of two 1
Photo credit: Mirror

“I didn’t know I had anything wrong with my parachute until a few seconds after I deployed,” she recalled. It opened properly and was fully inflated above my head when one of the steering toggles suddenly snapped loose, sending me into an uncontrollable spin. I had to cut away to what was supposed to be a guaranteed open with my reserve, which only opened partially, because I was unaware of the problem.

The entire descent was caught on camera, and Rich West, Shayna’s boyfriend and a skydiving instructor, could be heard yelling, “Shayna, pump the brake,” in the background.

Her face and pelvis broke like “eggshells,” and doctors had to insert steel plates. She learned she was pregnant for two weeks while she was in the hospital. The unharmed infant is due in June.

Richardson claimed that she submitted to God’s will on the way down.

Pregnant death dive survivor is now mother of two 2
Photo credit: today.com

She said, “I just asked God to take away the pain of the impact, and I let go of my steering toggles.” I told him that I was ready to return home because I didn’t want to endure the suffering.

After that, everything else she recalls is the ambulance. After the impact, she allegedly tried to sit up, but West forced her to stay down and advised her to unwind.

He said, “She spit her teeth out. “I noticed she had lost every tooth,”

Richardson declared, “There is no logical justification for why I survived. “It just comes down to God being involved in that.”

Despite her near-death experience, she intends to skydive once more in August.

She said to Diane Sawyer, “You have got to go for yourself. “You have to experience it once to comprehend.”

Similar Stories
A Pilot Survived 20 Minutes Outside A Flying Jet

A Pilot Survived 20 Minutes Outside A Flying Jet

In 1990, the captain of flight 5390 Timothy Lancaster got sucked out of his own plane when the window of the plane fell off. The crew held the captain’s leg for 30 minutes while the plane performed emergency landing. Everyone survived.

How hero parrot saved little girl who was choking on her breakfast

How hero parrot saved little girl who was choking on her breakfast

In 2008 Quaker parrot Willie alerted his owner Megan Howard when the little girl she was babysitting began to choke. Howard was in the bathroom when the parrot repeatedly yelled "Mama! Baby!" flapping his wings. Megan rushed and performed the Heimlich maneuver, saving her life. Willie received the Red Cross Animal Lifesaver Award.

The Crystal Maiden of the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave

The Crystal Maiden of the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave

Located in Belize, there is a cave where the remnants of ancient Maya human sacrifices can be witnessed. However, reaching the back of the cave system requires swimming, wading through a cave river, and crawling through narrow, uneven rocky passages in darkness. Once there, visitors can walk among the numerous corpses of sacrifice victims, including The Crystal Maiden, an 18-year-old whose skeleton has become calcified to the point of sparkling.

Billy Ray Harris: A Story of Kindness and Honesty

Billy Ray Harris: A Story of Kindness and Honesty

In 2013, a homeless man named Billy Ray Harris discovered a $4,000 engagement ring in this cup. A woman had dropped while giving him some change. He returned the ring to her two days later. To thank him for his honesty, she set up a fund with the goal of raising $4,000 for him. It earned more than $185,000.

Abraham Crijnssen – The Ship That Disguised Itself As An Island

Abraham Crijnssen – The Ship That Disguised Itself As An Island

During World War II a Dutch minesweeper evaded the Japanese for eight days disguised as an island. The crew covered the decks in cut trees and painted exposed surfaces to look like rocks. They moved only at night and anchored closed to shore by day, eventually escaping to Australia.

Unique Dining table with a hole for your cat to peek and join you dinner.

Unique Dining table with a hole for your cat to peek and join you dinner.

Dinos, a Japanese internet shop, has launched a new range of cat furniture, which includes this oak table with a hole in the middle and a perch underneath. It places your cat companion in the center of the table, making your cat the main focus of your meal, as it should be, because cats are the true proprietors of “your” home.

How Magic Johnson Missed Out On $7 Billion Nike deal

How Magic Johnson Missed Out On $7 Billion Nike deal

Magic Johnson turned down a deal with Nike in 1979 that offered him 100,000 shares of stock and $1 for every pair of shoes sold. Instead, he chose Converse, which offered him $100,000 per year. Johnson lost about $5 billion by declining the Nike deal.

Australian man dies, comes back to life, and wins the lottery twice

Australian man dies, comes back to life, and wins the lottery twice

Bill Morgan, an Australian, is a man who has beat the odds. He escaped death by surviving a horrific automobile accident and heart attack before collapsing into a coma and going on to win the lotto twice. He went from losing virtually everything to winning far more than he could have imagined.