What was suppose to be a 120 mph adrenaline filled fall through the sky from over two miles up turned into a miraculous story of survival for a California skydiver who plunged to the ground, lived, and recorded the entire episode on camera, the Daily Mail reports.
Thirty-seconds into free fall, Gerardo Flores, felt a strong pull on his back as his parachute unexpectedly opened at 13,000-feet above the ground. Flores, who is two years out of training school and has completed 29 previous jumps, slowly descended down in fear and while thinking of what to do he lost consciousness.
"One hundred things go through your mind. You are never suppose to open above 6,000 feet, " he said.
For the next twenty minutes, his limp body hanged from the straps of his parachute as he fell to the dropzone. Each and every minute was recorded by his GoPro video camera. Incredibly, Flores crashed into the designated area and survived.
Personnel from his flight school quickly rushed to his aid and called 911. Flores suffered broken ribs and a lacerated tongue and had to be airlifted to the hospital. For two weeks he laid unconscious in his hospital bed.
When he awoke and finally saw the unbelievable footage, Flores's eyes began to fill with tears as he realized he came close to death.
"I could have died that day," Flores told a CBS News San Francisco.
FAA investigators assessed the accident and found that a velcro closing flap on his equipment was worn out. The suspension lines were also broken and there were knots in the rigging. When Flores was told of the findings he said an investigator told him "you are the luckiest man I ever met,"
The video of Flores's jump can be seen below.