Amputees wait for chance at skydiving

By John Tompkins
The Facts

ROSHARON - After losing both legs in a roadside attack in Iraq, Joe James isn't worried about jumping out of a plane.

"Not a lot of things look scary after combat," said James, 26, an Army sergeant 1st class who now is living in San Antonio. "Sky diving looks pretty safe compared to a fire fight."

James was returning from a mission in April as a member of the military transition team in Baghdad, when a rocket hit his Humvee.

"It came through my Humvee, killed my major," he said. "I was the gunner and it went through my legs and out the back door."

After recovering and learning to walk on two prosthetic legs, James hoped to take to the air Saturday for the Airborne Amputees Limbs of Love event at Skydive Spaceland in Rosharon.

More than 55 amputees signed up Saturday for the event, but their chance to jump had to wait until today. High winds Saturday made it too risky for the amputees to take a tandem jump with an instructor, said Joe Sansone, Airborne Amputees Limbs of Love founder.

There were some jumps Saturday but the amputees were not able to go up, he said.

The organization is giving amputees a chance for a free skydive while 200 others signed up to take the plunge to raise money and awareness for the organization.

Proceeds also went to help those who need prosthetic limbs but can't afford them, Sansone said.

The event had been postponed from its original date in September, the weekend after Hurricane Ike struck the Texas Gulf Coast.

"I saw these wounded warriors and my heart went out to them," Sansone said. "They're jumping today to prove to the world that life is not over after amputation."

Limbs of Love is planning for the amputees to jump at 7:45 a.m. today, Sansone said.

"We're paying for them to stay one more night and we'll go from there," he said.

The amputees received a pep talk Saturday about their jump from Special Forces soldier Dana Bowman, an elite parachute team member who lost both legs in a mid-air collision in 1994.

Bowman now is a motivational speaker and has learned to skydive again with prosthetic legs.

"I came down here to land on target for each and every one of you," Bowman said.

"I did break some prosthetic limbs on the way down but I did have my spare," he said to laughter.

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Clark of San Antonio lost his left leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2007 and spent a lot of time recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

He wants to add skydiving to a list of activities he's done since losing his leg, including playing golf again and scuba diving.

"I think it will be thrilling," Clark said of the jump.

Brian Coles was working on a telecommunications project at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio nine years ago when a friend working a backhoe accidentally hit him, taking both of Cole's legs. The jump would help show others that amputees can do "normal" activities others can do, though skydiving might not be that normal, he said laughing.

Normal or not, he did feel some nervousness creeping up on him as he waited Saturday.

"It's eating me up a little bit," he said.

James said he just wants to jump out of the plane.

"It's a good opportunity to do something you don't ordinarily get to do," he said.

As he talked, his wife, Jarin James, sat next to him, shaking her head.

"I think he's crazy," she said.