In May of this year, two lives were saved on the same day at the same dropzone, thanks to automatic activations by CYPRES AADs. While one jumper chose not to share their experience publicly, Alisa generously offered to share hers, helping us all continue to elevate safety awareness in our sport. We’re deeply grateful for both of these saves. Alisa’s story, originally featured on the CYPRES blog is shared below.
“Hi, I’m Alisa…”
I’m 24 years old and the incident was on my 80th jump. I’ve been in the sport since July 2024. My rig is a Teardrop with a 170 Speed reserve. My CYPRES is a changeable, set to Expert mode. Activation Altitude setting is at default.
On my first jump, I fell on my right shoulder on landing. I immediately noticed that it was out for a moment, but jumped back in on its own. As I wasn’t in any pain, I jumped a second time – and everything went smoothly.
Dislocation Number Two
On the third jump there was an incident just before the separation: We were in the fourway star, my arm was grabbed and I was slightly lower on break off than the person holding me. At that moment, my shoulder dislocated again. I turned away as normal, but immediately felt the pain. I wanted to track, but that barely worked – the pain got worse and I became increasingly panicked.
I immediately tried to pull my main, but found that I couldn’t reach the hand deploy with my injured arm. I realized that I had to pull the reserve. I tried to reach for the handle with my left hand, but panicked and didn’t find it.
I Thought I Was Going To Die
When I was at about 1300 feet, I took a look at the altimeter – and from then on, I did nothing more. I became very calm inside. I finished with my life at that moment. Memories of my life played like a movie in my head. I really thought I was going to die in a few seconds.
Suddenly my reserve was above me. I reflexively tried to grab the steering lines with both arms, but couldn’t because of my dislocated shoulder and landed at full speed.
But I was just grateful to be alive at all. Quitting was never an option for me after this incident.
Thanks to the CYPRES team, I am still alive and can continue skydiving. Meanwhile I have done another 18 jumps. I am very thankful for that!
