years. it was her dream, her dream. my dad said okay, on your 16th birthday, i will take you skydiving. reporter: from the moment she left the plane, every skydiver s worst nightmare. i started kicking my feet like i was taught in the class. i looked up and it still wasn t fixing. i tried to pull the toggles apart and i was not strong enough to fight off the wind. i just remember screaming and i blacked out. i don t remember anything after that. reporter: mackenzie lost consciousness before she hit the ground. when she woke up several days later, her body was shattered but her spirit was strong. her hard work really played a role in this. she has been working really hard and is really motivated. reporter: as for why she survived, mackenzie is certain she knows the answer. i think that god has a lot to do with it and he plans for me in the future. reporter: as for that future, mackenzie has her sights set on joining the medical professional that helped her. she wants to
ann has worked for abc since 1973 and has covered the white house for us since 1974. our heart-felt congratulations going out to her. yeah, that is something. so great to have her to be a part of the team she s on. so prestigious. congratulations to ann. absolutely. well, this is a cool story. that s why it is our favorite story of the day. missed it. involves that girl in texas who was seriously injured in a skydiving accident. mackenzie wethington got a special visit from harlem globe trotter. bull bullard was there and shared his own stories. he was injured when a hoop crashed down on him. wet a bizarre and dangerous arrest. outrage this morning after police handcuff a firefighter who was helping to save a life. and later, people who love
airstrip. she did not open the second chute. her father told reporters the trouble started immediately. she was rocking this way, then she went into a spiral. reporter: a 3500-foot drop and her father, who jumped first, watched the entire thing from the ground. mackenzie is in the hospital with a broken vertebrae and shattered pelvis. her injuries consisted with being struck by a car going 60 miles an hour. if she truly fell 3,000 feet, i have no idea how she survived. reporter: the u.s. parachute association does allow 16-year-olds to jump, provided they have parental consent. joe wethington said he expected a tandem jump with an experienced skydiver but the company only offered single jumps. all she went through, she hasn t shed a tear. reporter: an investigation should tell us exactly what happened when she jumped out of that plane. molly hunter, abc news, new york. it is shocking that he let her go without doing a tandem
i want to fly away yeah yeah yeah well, have you ever been skydiving? i have not. neither have i. i heard it can be a huge rush and the temptation to do it once can be powerful. a young texas girl felt that way. when she turned 16, her dad agreed to let her jump. but as they say, something went wrong. this morning she s very lucky to be alive. here s abc s molly hunter. reporter: sweet 16 turned nightmare for mackenzie wethington. it was her dream. her dream. and my dad said, okay, on your 16th birthday i will take you skydiving. reporter: but the jump went tragically wrong. we ve had a first-time jumper get hurt out here pegasus