Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the name of the hospital Marty Adams was transported to and where he had his appointment on Wednesday.
Three seconds into his 200-foot-fall from a Cripple Creek bridge, Marty Adams was convinced he was going to die.
As he plummeted 55 mph toward the rocky canyon roughly 40 feet below him, all the 27-year-old Arvada resident could do was brace for the impact. Then, his parachute inflated just enough to save his life.
The jump wasn’t the first for Adams who had racked up about 600 skydives and 70 BASE jumps — a sport in which people jump from buildings, antennas, spans and the Earth. But despite having more career jumps than one can remember, Adam’s jump and approximately 6-second fall on that Sept. 10 morning is one he will never forget.
‘You don’t ever give up. You fly the parachute to the end.’
Adams recalls the weather that morning being perfect for BASE jumping. The overcast skies created cooler temperatures and therefore thicker air to fill a parachute, so Adams and a friend headed to the Cripple Creek area bridge. Adams refrained from sharing the location of the bridge with the Times-Call.
The 200-foot drop wasn’t new to Adams, who had successfully completed a BASE jump of that distance before. Adams said he initially decided to do a static line jump, which involves a break cord, which connects “the bridle,” or rope, of the parachute to an anchor point at the BASE. When a jumper leaps from an object, the weight of the jumper extends the bridle and creates tension in break cord, which leads the parachute to be pulled from the person’s pack and the break cord to then snap. The parachute is almost immediately deployed after the jump.
Adams stepped over the railing of the bridge and did one final check of his parachute, when he noticed one of the two pins holding the parachute inside his pack had come undone as he climbed over the bridge’s railing.
He headed back to the car to repack his parachute but realized he didn’t have enough break cord for another static jump set-up, so he opted for a free fall jump instead — a method in which a jumper throws a smaller parachute when they jump which inflates and pulls out the larger parachute.
But Adams had one oversight that could have cost him his life — the altitude. Adams said that because the air was thinner, it took more time for his 300-square-foot parachute to inflate, leaving him only half a second to land rather than a full second; a small margin of time with an even smaller margin for error.
“I knew immediately that it was taking a little longer than normal,” Adams said. “I can feel my parachute fall off of my back and I didn’t feel that for a while, for awhile meaning maybe a second or two. … It opened about the three second mark, the three and a half second mark. It opened enough to save me, but it wasn’t inflated enough to save my feet.”
“I kind of thought that was it, but I still performed,” Adams said referring to the possibility of dying. “You don’t ever give up. You fly the parachute to the end.”
Adams’ training kicked in and he tried to perform a “parachute landing fall” in which a jumper puts their feet and knees together and rolls into a ball upon landing, but Adams said he had too much momentum, causing him to fall forward after his feet made impact. Upon landing on his feet, Adams felt and heard the bones crack, he said he immediately knew his feet were broken.
According to Adams’ medical records, he fractured approximately five bones in his left foot and three in his right. Dr. Danielle Melton, who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation, said he broke his calcaneus and navicular which she described as “crucial” bones, causing “significant” injury.
Unable to walk, he was left at the bottom of the canyon with a friend, who had done the same jump moments before and sprained his ankle.
At the bottom of the canyon on a rocky path, the pair waited for two hours for medics to show up. He was transferred to University of Colorado Hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus, where he received emergency surgery to allow blood flow to his feet. Since then, Adams has undergone four more surgeries.
‘It’s been a whirlpool of emotions’
Over the next six months, Adams was anchored by his wheelchair and crutches. While out on disability as an electrician, he found himself with an excess amount of free time, which mostly included moving around his apartment, icing his foot on and off.
“It’s been a whirlpool of emotions,” Adams said. “I’m allowing myself to feel all these emotions. I’m not trying to block them out, I’m pretty purposeful in that. There’s a lot at first, a lot of shock and sadness and grief, and then you start beating yourself up and anger. ‘How could I make such a stupid mistake? How could it be me? I thought I was so much better than that.'”
With all his free time, Adams has had to find new ways to get his adrenaline fix. He said he’s become a perfectionist at wheelies in his wheelchair, tested the limits of his medical scooter and picked up drone racing as a new hobby.
Adams builds tiny drones which he then connects to a headset, allowing him to see from the perspective of the drone.
“It’s really given me that sense of flight again,” Adams said. “When I put on the goggles and fly (the drone) it makes me feel like I’m flying, like I’m skydiving again.”
‘I’m going to get another shot’
In February, Adams was on track for a full recovery before his health started to decline. Melton said Adams developed osteomyelitis and an abscess around the hardware in his foot, which could cause sepsis.
After months of being unable to exercise, Adams opted for what he knew would give him the most functionality — amputation.
“I had about eight months from the impact to when they decided to amputate, so I had eight months to grieve the loss of function in my body and eight months to get used to what was going on,” Adam said. “Whenever they told me they would have to amputate, it was kind of a relief, of like, ‘OK, well I’m going to get another shot because this foot isn’t working.’”
Melton backed Adams’ decision to amputate.
“I think a lot of times there’s an interesting approach to limb salvage. A lot of surgeons think of saving limb at all costs,” Melton said. “Whereas Marty is really very astute, and he’s his own best advocate. He was thoughtful enough to know he wanted to be functional.”
After getting his foot amputated on May 13 by orthopedic trauma surgeon Dr. Jason Stoneback, who also happens to skydive regularly, Adams was fitted for his prosthesis the first time Wednesday.
To Adams’ delight, Dan Milius, prosthetist, told him he should be receiving a K4 prosthesis leg in a couple of weeks. K4 prostheses are made for patients who are intending to use them at a high-activity function level, Adams said.
“I’m so stoked to get a foot in two weeks,” Adams said. “I’m tired of all the kids staring at me. … I told a group of kids the other day, ‘Oh, I got bit by a shark.’ Without hesitation, one of the kids was like, ‘Woah! That’s so cool.'”
Adams added that he hopes his new prosthesis will have three tattoos printed on the leg to resemble the ones which he lost in the amputation.
He said throughout his recovery he has remained hopeful, knowing other skydivers have jumped with prostheses.
“Someone who gives me a lot of hope is someone called AJ Diaz; he’s a jumper in Longmont, a skydiver, and he has a prosthetic leg,” Adams said. “He’s been skydiving for over 10 years with his prosthetic leg, and it doesn’t even faze him. He doesn’t even talk about it or think about it. So that gives me a lot of hope.”
Diaz declined the Times-Call’s request for an interview.
Adams hasn’t let the amputation stop him from getting back in the air. On June 16, Adams met up with friends at the “drop zone” in Longmont to watch the sunset and enjoy a barbecue. Upon arriving, his friends encouraged him to tandem jump and split the cost, making it his first time since the incident.
“One thing I love about the skydive and BASE jump community is that they’re so spontaneous,” Adams said. “I was really happy and excited and nervous and curious about how my leg was going to feel in the air and on the plane ride up, but the plane ride up was super comfy and flying still felt pretty natural so yeah, it was awesome.”
Adams and skydiver Mark Bergen performed a slide-in landing which didn’t require Adams to use his foot. Adams said he hopes to one day jump solo again with a prosthesis and land standing, a goal he gets closer to day by day as his right foot comes close to a full recovery.
“I know it’s going to be a big challenge. … But I’m still able to do 90% of what I used to be able to do,” Adams said.
Adams said he’s extremely grateful for the support of his friends, especially those from the skydiving and base jumping community. Adams said in total he has received roughly $20,000 in donations, surpassing his $6,000 worth of medical bills. However, Adams said his leg is expected to cost around $50,000.
“I’m super-grateful for everybody who’s helped me out,” Adams said. “I sometimes feel undeserving of it, just because it’s overwhelming how many people have helped. Since I’m unable to repay it back, I try to just work really hard and not give up because I have a lot of people investing in me.”
‘This incident has really taught me to be patient.’
In response to people criticizing BASE jumping and skydiving, Adams argues that sports aren’t reckless, people are.
“People don’t necessarily think about all the training and research we do,” Adams said. “Like I said, I have 700 jumps, most people wouldn’t think that, they would probably just think I’m some random 20-year-old hurling my body off the side of something and hoping it works. There’s lot of information and training and reading. And also, we don’t want to die either. We’re trying to give ourselves the best possible scenario of survival.”
Adams said comparatively, some may see free soloing in rock climbing as reckless, but they’re not taking into consideration how much training and preparation the climber has.
Adams said his injury hasn’t changed the way he views the sport, but the way he views himself in the sport.
“One thing I notice about the sport is a lot of new skydivers and BASE jumpers, they feel rushed and maybe put themselves in a lot of situations they don’t belong in,” Adams said. “This incident has really taught me to be patient.”
Adams said after he gets his prosthesis he’ll have to become accustomed to it before going back to work or jumping again. He said he has plans to practice the feeling of skydiving without a foot at an indoor skydiving simulator before flying solo again — something he hopes to be able to do before the end of the year.
