it s determined that bridgette has amnesia. she remains in critical care for seven days. my first memory after the accident was waking up in the hospital and looking over my shoulder and seeing my dad sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. i was very relieved to see him sitting there. doctors tell her it will be a long road to recovery. it could take up to three years for her brain to heal. but after two weeks in the hospital, she s free to head home to new zealand. it s there that she watches the tape of her accident for the first time. when i saw the footage, i thought it was very violent and i m quite surprised that i didn t break any bones. quite surprised. i think the problem is that it being very windy up there and all the powder being swept off the mountain and the line i was skiing was very, very slick. and i think i was very excited and i was very keen to ski it
case. the men can t communicate with andy. but he begins to understand the plan. the ground was coming up at me, so i realized that we were going to land. i was honestly more exhausted emotionally, physically, mentally than i have been in my life. i was ready to deal with whatever the consequences were. i said to the pilot, make this the shortest and softest landing of your life. just before impact, andy shows enormous strength, tucking his legs up, contorting himself into a fetal position and bracing for the worst. and then he struck the ground. that s when you quit breathing. a cloud of dust, then we all rush the aircraft. even though i was running flat out to see andy after the plane touched down, i was apprehensive about getting there. i didn t think anybody could survive that. but as don and andy s dad reached the now stopped plane, against all odds i opened my eyes. my first words to them were, god, i m lucky. yeah, he was. it was incredible. andy s rushed to
with the potential of death for that long of a time, for 45 minutes, i mean, you kind of give yourself up to that possibility. preparations are made to bring the plane down. a rescue team, emt, fire department and fellow skydivers assemble on the landing strip, but the plan isn t to land on the runway. the pilot plans to touch down on a narrow strip next to the hard pavement. i organized having a stretch of grass cleaned meticulously. we lined people up to pick up anything that might possibly harm andy striking the ground. then, we called the pilot and asked him to bring him in. as the plane approaches, don turns to andy s dad. we embraced. it was very heart felt. we talked about the fact we were confident andy was going to be okay. both of us knowing that that probably wasn t going to be the
anything that might possibly harm andy striking the ground. then, we called the pilot and asked him to bring him in. as the plane approaches, don turns to andy s dad. we embraced. it was very heart felt. we talked about the fact we were confident andy was going to be okay. both of us knowing that that probably wasn t going to be the case. the men can t communicate with andy. but he begins to understand the plan. the ground was coming up at me, so i realized that we were going to land. i was honestly more exhausted emotionally, physically, mentally than i have been in my life. i was ready to deal with whatever the consequences were. i said to the pilot, make this the shortest and softest landing of your life. just before impact, andy shows enormous strength, tucking his legs up, contorting himself into a fetal position and bracing for the worst.
trauma to their head. dr. smalley runs a battery of tests. fearing all kinds of things, broken bones or even worse, internal bleeding, life-threatening swelling, or bleeding of the brain. all the while bridgette s father never leaves her side. she was pretty quiet throughout the first 24 hours. and then she started to come around. amazingly, every test comes back negative. considering her spectacular fall, no broken bones, no internal injuries. it s nothing short of a miracle. the only thing doctors can t determine is how bridgette s brain is affected. i remember up to the start, three, two, one, go. and then i don t have any memory after that. it s determined that bridgette has amnesia. she remains in critical care for seven days. my first memory after the accident was waking up in the hospital and looking over my shoulder and seeing my dad sitting in a chair in the corner of the room.