By Bond Robertson 
It sounds cliched, but I feel like I’ve been born again.
29-year-old Emma Curry from Australia talks about that fateful day in 2013.
On the day she fell about 4,260 meters off a plane with an unconscious trainer on its back – and a faulty parachute.
– I remember thinking, “There’s no way I’m going to survive this.” You can’t imagine that you can fall from this height and survive, she tells the Australian Current Affairs Program “My affair”.
– feeling overwhelming
Emma and her friend Gemma Murdak embarked on what was supposed to be the biggest and best experience of their lives so far: a three-month tour of Europe.
Switzerland was the first stop for friends. It was also the last flight.
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Just five days into their European vacation, the girls wanted to try skydiving.
– I jumped out of the plane first. I remember holding Gemma’s hand and saying “I love you”. Then I turned and jumped, Emma remembers.
Immediately, I loved the skydiving experience.
– I have an overwhelming feeling. I felt exactly where I was supposed to be, and I felt reassured, the 29-year-old recalls.
But the delicious feeling of free fall soon became a living nightmare. Emma felt a finger prick in her shoulder.
Deploy the parachute too late
The coach, whose Emma was strapped, pointed to the parachute and indicated that it would immediately spread out. But the man behind her was a little late pulling the trigger. The emergency parachute was already on its way out.
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The two umbrellas became entangled in each other, and the coach got the straps around his neck.
Within a short time he had fainted.
Emma tried to scream but received no response.
– I thought maybe he didn’t hear me. Then I discovered a red umbrella tangled in front of me, instead of above me.
Lying on his stomach, blood on his face
Panic spread throughout his body. I understand that the coach is no longer conscious.
– I remember thinking: “Oh my God, Gemma must find me.” Then I thought of my family. I had some kind of regret that I didn’t live life to the fullest, she says on the TV show.
Emma landed on her stomach and the trainer on top of her. Both survived the fall.
She tried to roll, but her body did not move.
Her friend Gemma had no idea what was going on in the air before she landed herself.
– The first thing I saw was that she was lying on her stomach, with blood on her face. She was crying and hysterical. She cried that she could not feel her legs, says Gemma on the same TV show.
paralyzed
The 20-year-old was taken to the hospital. The spine was broken in two places.
Emma was paralyzed from the waist down.
Comes with Shock Acceptance
One day I woke up and had some kind of revelation. “Well, this has happened. I am lame. I could be paralyzed and upset about that for the rest of my life, or I could be paralyzed and hope to live a fulfilling life anyway.”
She chose the latter.
After returning to Australia, she went straight to rehab. Slowly but surely, the feeling returned to my legs.
Celebrating the day of the accident
Today, nine years after the accident, Emma is going to her own devices. She has no control over her bladder or bowels, but she is glad she is still alive.
The parachute accident constantly reminds her to be grateful. She recently published the book “The Girl Who Fell From Heaven” which translates directly into Norwegian as “The Girl Who Fell From Heaven”.
– I’ve always known it had to be the address. It’s pretty self-explanatory, but I love that it puts such a shocking thing into a poetic phrase.
On the date of her fall from the sky, she celebrates every year with great fanfare.
It sounds cliched, but I feel like it was the day I was born again. Life changes from moment to moment. Every day of that date is an extra time I live in. Celebrate it.