‘Fell 15,500ft to her death’: Heartbroken skydiver deliberately sabotages backup parachute following breakup

An inquest in County Durham, northern England, has ruled that the death of a 32-year-old British skydiver, Jade Damarell, was a suicide.

The fatal incident happened on April 27 when Damarell fell into a field and sustained blunt trauma injuries. She was a very experienced skydiver who had completed more than 500 jumps. The coroner, Leslie Hamilton, determined that her death was the result of her own actions.

Warning: Description of suicide to follow

Investigators found that Damarell had intentionally prevented her main parachute from opening. She also disabled her automatic activation device, which is a crucial safety mechanism that would have released her reserve parachute at a set altitude and speed if she had been unable to open it herself. An examination after the incident confirmed that all of her equipment was in working order. This finding was a key factor in the coroner’s conclusion that her death was deliberate.

The tragedy happened just one day after Damarell’s eight-month relationship with a fellow skydiver, 26-year-old Ben Goodfellow, had ended. The inquest received information from a note written by Goodfellow, which confirmed the breakup had taken place the night before Damarell’s final jump. A friend of Damarell’s also confirmed this to Daily Mail, “The night before Jade died, Ben called off the relationship.”

British skydiver with over 500 jumps made sure she wouldn’t survive her last one

On the day before her death, Damarell had completed six successful skydiving jumps. However, her last jump was different in one notable way: she did not wear her usual camera to film the dive. This was not something she was known to do, which may mean she didn’t want to film this last one.

The friend who had told Daily Mail that they had broken up added a sad detail, “He went to work the next day, and that’s when Jade fell to her death.” Her family accepted the coroner’s ruling, saying they were, “incredibly comforted by how admired, respected and deeply loved she was.”

Many are lost to suicide yearly, but it never gets any easier for the families. Her family has accepted the coroner’s ruling. They released a statement expressing their appreciation for the support they received from the skydiving community. They also conveyed a desire to promote a culture of kindness and support for people experiencing mental health challenges, remembering Damarell as a remarkable, beautiful, brave, and extraordinary person.