Doc's Free Fall Pictures

Edward emailed me these pictures to show me what he's been up to this week while the kids and I have been gone. He's jumped about 12 times without incident and has passed the first part of the HALO course. He loves it so far, and the kids and I are looking forward to watching him jump when we get back to Arizona. Please know that no matter how much "fun" this looks like, it's really dangerous. Just this week during the night phase, Edward had to treat two men who both broke their legs as they landed. The guys broke their legs within a couple of hours of each other. One required transport to the hospital where he had surgery, and the other had to have his leg casted right at the clinic the next morning. Despite their fantastic safety record, this is pretty common, and of course, while as safe as they are, it's always dangerous when you start at 10,000 feet.

Edward as he is coming out of the airplane

Backflipping away from the airplane

Free falling at 10,000 feet over the Arizona desert

Falling alongside one of the instructors (a friend of his)

Thumbs-up, things are going well

Perfect landing in the desert as the sun rises over Arizona...they open their parachutes at 3,000 feet, and it takes 1,000 feet for them to be fully opened. Then, they are able to somewhat guide the parachute to the ground where they land on their feet (hopefully!).