The day after her breakup, skilled skydiver ‘chooses' not to open her parachute 10,000 feet above ground

Mint

27-05-2025

A day after her breakup, Jade Damarell, a skilled skydiver, 'chose' not to open her parachute 10,000 feet above ground and fell to her death in Caerphilly, South Wales.
According to a Mirror report, Jade's death was initially assumed to be a tragic accident, but the SkyHigh Skydiving, the skydiving company she was associated with, said they suspected her death to have been 'a deliberate act'.
Later, it became known that Jade, 32, had broken up with her boyfriend Ben Goodfellow, 26, the day before her fatal skydive.
Jade had been dating Ben, a fellow skydiving enthusiast, for nearly eight months after her split from her ex-husband. According to MailOnline, they had been living together in a property near the airfield, rented specifically for parachutists.
According to a Mirror report, Jade, a keen skydiver who had jumped around 80 times this year, deliberately failed to open her parachute as she plunged at speeds of more than 120mph.
The fatal skydive was marked 'non-suspicious' after the police discovered a note disclosing her intentions.
Jade's friend also confirmed that the incident 'wasn't a skydiving accident'. Her friend said that they believe Jade intended to take her life.
'She skydived with someone else, broke off and turned onto her back and impacted. She chose not to open her parachute, and she landed on her back,' they said
The friend also shared that the night before Jade's death, Ben had ended their relationship. He reportedly went to work the following day, during which time the tragedy occurred.
Police and emergency services were called to a nearby farm, where she landed, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. One person is believed to have witnessed the horror.
Ben Goodfellow is a Nissan technician and the lead singer and guitarist for the Sunderland-based indie band Post Rome, whose music has been featured on BBC Introducing.
Following the incident, the band cancelled a scheduled performance, citing 'unforeseen circumstances.'
Jade's friend described their bond as extremely close and said Jade was 'completely devastated' by the breakup, despite the fact that it was not the first time the couple had hit a rough patch.
'They were inseparable. They did everything together and didn't really interact much with others. They often went skydiving as a pair,' the friend said, adding that Jade and Ben had been living together since Christmas and had been dating for a few months before that.
'Jade had ended things with Ben on previous occasions, but Saturday was the first time he ended it with her. Ben is a quiet person - he's completely devastated by what's happened,' the friend added.