British tourist injured in skydiving crash released from hospital

A British tourist injured in a skydiving crash with an instructor in Jean has been released from the hospital, a University Medical Center spokesperson said Wednesday.

GoFundMe organizer Isabel Clacher wrote this week that she and others were “counting down the days” until Mitchell Deakin, 24, could return home to the U.K. on Wednesday.

A hospital spokesperson also said Wednesday that Deakin’s skydiving instructor, identified by a family friend as Jiron Arcos Ponce, remained in critical condition.

Clacher, who according to social media posts is Deakin’s girlfriend, wrote in an earlier GoFundMe entry that Deakin suffered injuries in the Sept. 17 crash that included a fractured pelvis, broken ribs, a perforated lung and kidney laceration.

“A long road ahead but he is on the mend,” Clacher wrote in a post dated Monday, which also contained a photo of what appeared to be an upright Deakin standing in a hallway with the assistance of a walker. “We can’t thank you enough for all your support & help in this tough time.”

The fundraiser as of Thursday had raised more than £20,000, or roughly $24,000, with nearly 700 individual donations. Attempts to reach Clacher, Deakin and his relatives through the GoFundMe and social media have been unsuccessful.

The Metropolitan Police Department said Deakin was attached to a 54-year-old skydiving instructor, and the two went into an uncontrollable spin after an apparent parachute malfunction. The two hit the ground near the Jean Sport Aviation Center at upward of 45 mph and had to be airlifted to the hospital, police said.

Police said the tandem’s backup parachute became tangled, which prevented the main parachute from opening properly after they had jumped from about 11,000 feet. Police also said the plane that carried the skydivers was used by local skydiving company GoJump Las Vegas, but the company’s founder and chief executive Michael Vetter denied GoJump’s involvement in the crash.

Metro has said that the Federal Aviation Administration was leading an investigation into the crash.

FAA officials said the agency was looking at “the packing of the main and reserve parachutes, and the rules of flight for the pilot and aircraft,” but added the incident remained under investigation. But when contacted Tuesday, the agency said it is not responding to routine media inquiries, citing the recent shutdown of the federal government.

The crash was also reported to the United States Parachute Association, Josh Hall, the organization’s western region director, said last month. State law requires skydiving operators to report incidents resulting in death or substantial injury to the organization, which according to its website, is a membership organization that promotes skydiving safety, establishes commercial skydiving safety standards and functions as the governing body for competitive skydiving.

Hall said the organization is waiting for the FAA to complete its investigation before commenting on the crash.

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