A 25-year-old woman who ‘fell from the sky’ and was left paralysed after a freak skydiving accident five years ago has posted a photo of herself at the same location it happened.
Queensland native Emma Carey returned to Switzerland last week almost half a decade after being told she would be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
‘Welcome to the spot where I landed. I went here ready to feel whatever I needed to but surprisingly nothing came, and I felt completely fine,’ she explained in a post on Instagram.
BEFORE: Queensland native Emma Carey returned to Switzerland last week almost half a decade after being told she would be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life
AFTER: ‘As I looked around, all I could think was how the heck did we survive? How on earth were we lucky enough to land on grass,’ she said
‘As I looked around, all I could think was how the heck did we survive? How on earth were we lucky enough to land on grass?!
‘The field is surrounded by alps, trees, cliffs, lakes, buildings… yet we landed right here, two metres away from a hard, asphalt road. That’s when I realised… this ground didn’t break me, not at all. It caught me.’
Emma explained that since her accident she has always looked on the brighter side of life and chosen the ‘glass half full’ approach.
‘This place changed my life in ways I’m still learning even five years on, but how lucky am I that I got to stand here today… STAND. On the same two legs which stopped working in this very spot,’ she explained.
Emma explained that since her accident she has always looked on the brighter side of life and chosen the ‘glass half full’ approach
Queensland native Emma Carey has been talking about her accident on social media and spreading positivity for the last five years
‘My friend once said something to me which summed it up perfectly. He said: “The ground was hard enough to change you but soft enough to keep you.” I like that a lot.’
The bubbly blonde decided to book a flight to Switzerland on a whim because she hadn’t been back to face her fears since the fall.
‘I only booked this ticket last week and I don’t exactly know what I’m going to do once I get there,’ she had explained online.
‘The thought of going back to Europe makes me feel sick. It’s like everything in my body is screaming at me to not go back there, to the place where it got so hurt.
Emma was told she would spend the rest of her life confined to a wheelchair following the horrific incident in 2013 which forced her to re-learn how to walk
‘But everything else in me is begging me to go, to create new memories, to stop thinking about it so much and to finally enjoy a European summer for what it should have always been… fun.’
Five years ago, Emma’s parachute and emergency chute became tangled during a dive and choked her instructor, who became unconscious.
The subsequent free fall saw her land on her stomach with her instructor on top of her. She was left with a broken spine, shattered pelvis and spinal cord crushed.
Eventually, she began physical therapy at a Sydney hospital, which was when she slowly and steadily learned to walk again.
She admitted that the accident cost her many things, including her work, relationship and elements of her family, and she’s afraid things will change again
Emma Carey (pictured) has explained the story behind her seemingly ordinary mirror selfie. The young woman has been living with a spinal cord injury where she suffers from bladder incontinence
‘It’s not that I’m worried about something going wrong over there again, it’s more the thought of coming home which scares me,’ she said.
‘Last time I left I came home to an entirely different world. Not only was my body forever changed but every other aspect of my life was as well.’
She admitted that the accident cost her many things, including her work, relationship and elements of her family, and she’s afraid things will change again.
‘I think what scares me now is I am SO in love with the new life I’ve created here. My job, my friends, my home, my body I’ve worked so hard to heal, my happiness… it feels like there’s a lot to lose.
‘This might explain why I almost miss every flight I catch… I think subconsciously a part of me actually WANTS to miss it. I love travelling but it’s definitely not something which comes easy to me anymore.’
The young woman was told she would spend the rest of her life confined to a wheelchair following the horrific Switzerland incident in 2013
One of the other side effects of her accident was suffering from bladder incontinence; a result of her spinal cord injury.
Previously, Emma shared a seemingly ordinary mirror selfie – but on closer inspection, her denim shorts are covered in urine.
‘This is what I look like every. single. day. Multiple times a day,’ she said.
‘I think because I can walk, people tend to think I have completely recovered from my spinal cord injury but the truth is I still have many lasting effects, one of them being that I am completely incontinent with both my bladder and bowels.’
At first, Emma said she would hide out at her home so her friends and family would never find out about her problem out of fear of judgement.
Emma was told she would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. But against all odds, she found the strength to walk again just one year after the horrific skydiving accident
Emma has been documenting her carefree lifestyle on social media – and she has since accepted the new part of her life
‘I was so embarrassed by this and tried to keep it a secret. I didn’t leave the house because I was so worried that people would find out,’ she explained.
‘I wouldn’t tell anyone why I had to be near a toilet at all times. I wouldn’t let anyone see my catheters or pads.
‘I would run away and hide every time I had an accident. It was exhausting trying to keep it a secret, so instead I just didn’t let anyone close to me.’
But despite her insecurities, Emma said she soon realised she needed to accept the new part of her life whether she liked it or not.
‘It wasn’t long until I realised that if I was going to get upset and angry every time I peed myself, it would mean that I would be upset and angry every single day of my life,’ she said.