EXCLUSIVE I'm an award-winning skydiver and woke up one day to find my left leg GONE... I'm itching to jump out of a plane again
An award-winning skydiver who recently woke up to find his leg had been amputated has recounted the horrific details of his ordeal - while revealing his plans to take to the skies for a world-record attempt this summer.
German sportsman Olav Zipser, who lives in Thailand, visited the doctors after his toe turned blue and he was struck by a 'sudden and intense pain' in his foot.
Medics diagnosed a blocked artery and removed a clot, but just hours after being discharged the 59-year-old was in agony again.
Mr Zipser was rushed back to hospital but despite being in 'excruciating pain' he was denied entry because his insurance had not paid for the previous day's procedure.
The Sports Emmy told MailOnline: 'From that point, things become a blur. I was left untreated in a foreign country, in a vulnerable and dangerous state.
'Over the next several days, I was shuffled through the public hospital system in Pattaya, heavily medicated with morphine, surrounded by chaos: overcrowded wards, patients lying on the floor, overwhelmed staff with no time and little to no English.'
'My foot turned black. My leg began to die. I woke up days later to find my left leg had been amputated above the knee.'
Following the surgery in April Mr Zipser - known internationally as the pioneer of FreeFly - a skydiving discipline involving falling free in various vertical orientations – was discharged to be cared for by a friend.
But, his torment was far from over as he still faced a gruelling and agonising road to recovery.
'I couldn't walk. I had no equipment. I crawled to the bathroom, balancing through the fog of pain and disbelief,' he recalled.
Mr Zipser has now returned home to his studio by the sea in Cape Mae Pim where he continues to heal.
'The wound is healing well. The stitches have been removed, and I'm preparing to start rehabilitation, he said.
'One of the most surreal aspects has been the phantom limb pain. My brain refuses to accept the leg is gone. It hums constantly, like a great church bell ringing inside my nerves,' he added.
Now, the sportsman has revealed he intends to defy all odds to take part in a daring world record attempt.
Despite having to crawl to the bathroom just weeks ago Mr Zipser is planning to travel to Chicago to be involved in 'the most complex human formation ever attempted in the sky'.
The extraordinary feat will see Mr Zipser try to link hands with 200 elite skydivers while free falling at nearly 300 km/h.
If successful he will be the first amputee to take part in such a record.
However, Mr Zipser will need to overcome many challenges to achieve his goal and has just weeks to adapt to a new way of flying.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover his medical expenses which include a new prosthetic leg.
An extract from the page read: 'We adapt. We overcome. We fly again. And this isn't the end of the journey—it's just a new chapter. I will continue as a FreeFly Pirate of the sky. Ra ra ra! 'There's still sky to dance through, clouds to carve, and minds to free.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
NHS app to become default source for appointments, screenings and test results
The NHS app will become the default method of communication for patients seeking appointment reminders, screening invitations and test results as part of a major investment. Millions more people will receive personal health information directly to their smartphones within the next three years in a move that is expected to save the health service £200 million, the Department of Health and Social Care said. It will also avoid the need for at least 50 million NHS letters being sent by post each year, with the Health Secretary likening the shift from analogue to digital to 'online banking or ordering a takeaway'. The £50 million investment will see 270 million messages sent through the NHS app this year, an increase of 70 million on the previous financial year. Push notifications will provide appointment reminders to patients to try to reduce the risk of no attendance, with around eight million missed appointments in elective care missed in 2023/24. More than 11 million people in the UK currently log into the NHS app every month, while almost 20 million are opted in to receive healthcare messages from the app. Where app messaging is not available, particularly for elderly patients without smartphones, communications will be sent via text message and then by letter as a last resort and phone lines will be freed up. It is hoped the changes will give patients better access to manage their healthcare journey and make informed decisions about their care. NHS app services, which were launched in December 2018, are now used in 87% of hospitals across England. Last month, NHS England announced millions of patients would be able to get 'Amazon-style' tracking updates on their prescriptions through the app, to check if their medicines are ready to collect or have been despatched for delivery. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: ' People are living increasingly busy lives and want to access information about their health at the touch of a button, rather than having to wait weeks for letters that often arrive too late. 'This Government is bringing our analogue health service into the digital age, so that being a patient in the NHS is as convenient as online banking or ordering a takeaway. 'The NHS still spends hundreds of millions of pounds on stamps, printing, and envelopes. By modernising the health service, we can free up huge amounts of funding to reinvest in the front line. 'Through the investment and reform in our Plan for Change, we will make the NHS App the front door to the health service and put power in the hands of patients.' Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patient's Association, said: 'This major upgrade to the NHS App marks a significant step in modernising how patients receive information, from test results to screening invitations. 'This was a recommendation from our Digital Coalition and realises changes that patients have asked for. 'We welcome this investment and the ambition behind it. Success for any digital innovation will be the implementation of the Digital Inclusion Plan and working directly with patients and communities.'
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Free lung cancer screening offered for Bridlington smokers
More than 7,000 people in Bridlington are being offered free lung cancer and current smokers aged between 55 and 74 will be asked to arrange a telephone assessment with a specialist respiratory then may be invited for a low-dose CT scan on board a high-tech mobile is the latest round of screenings in East Yorkshire which began in Withernsea in 2023. Dr Stuart Baugh, programme director for the NHS Lung Cancer Screening programme in Humber and North Yorkshire, said: "The Lung Cancer Screening programme is a vital step towards better outcomes for people at highest risk of respiratory diseases."Not only does the programme help to provide most people with reassurance that their lungs are currently healthy, it also helps to detect any lung conditions early and supports people to stop smoking if they wish to do so."The screening service was first launched in Hull in 2020 and has visited the Goole and Howden area and East Riding villages, including Piper, associate medical director for cancer at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said the screening programme "offers real hope and reassurance". "Lung cancer screening can save lives," she said."By detecting cancer at an earlier stage, often before symptoms appear, we can offer treatment sooner, when it's more likely to be successful."Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Dakota, 28, was fit, happy and had no reason to think anything was wrong with her health. Then she received heartbreaking news
Just three weeks before her 29th birthday, Dakota Middleby 's life changed in an instant. It was March 26 when she received the call that confirmed her worst fears. What began as seemingly innocuous swelling under her right arm turned out to be something far more serious: stage 3, grade 3 HER2-positive breast cancer - a rare and aggressive form of the disease most often associated with older women. 'I initially went to the doctors seven years ago for a lump I found in my breast, but I was told it was a fatty lump and not harmful,' Dakota told FEMAIL. 'The only thing I noticed this time was some swollen lymph nodes under my arm. My doctor initially thought it was viral, and that I'd start to get sick because of it. But weeks went by and they weren't going down.' Eventually, she was sent for an ultrasound. 'I put it off for a week because I couldn't get an appointment and I didn't think it was serious. I mean, I was 28 and extremely healthy - what could it actually have been? 'But then I saw the ultrasound technician's face change and I knew something was wrong,' she recalled. Dakota's doctor told her it was suspected breast cancer. 'I was in shock,' she recalled. 'There's no cancer in my family. I felt completely healthy. I didn't know people in their twenties could get breast cancer.' What followed was a blur of medical tests: two biopsies, a PET scan, a CT scan, and a flurry of bloodwork. Then came the official diagnosis - stage 3 HER2-positive breast cancer, known for how quickly it spreads. 'I literally thought I was going to die. My whole life flashed before my eyes,' she said. She had just moved from the Gold Coast to Melbourne for a new job, but within six months, she was forced to resign to focus on treatment. 'I resigned when I was diagnosed, just because mentally it was too much to try and manage both,' she said. Dakota quickly discovered how aggressive her treatment would need to be. HER2-positive cancers require a combination of chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and often surgery. There wasn't time to do traditional egg freezing to preserve her fertility. Instead, she underwent emergency ovarian tissue freezing - a relatively uncommon procedure - and began monthly Zoladex injections to shut down her ovaries and protect them from the harsh effects of chemo. 'I had to go into early menopause almost overnight,' she said, suffering menopause-like symptoms such as hot flushes, mood swings, and more changes and puts your body through a physical toll. Dakota's chemotherapy began shortly after. Every three weeks, she receives a round of powerful drugs designed to kill the cancer cells. 'I get mouth ulcers, nausea, heartburn, memory fog, and even temporary vision issues,' she said. 'It takes about a week to even feel semi-human again. By the second week, I start feeling slightly better. The third week is my only good week - then it all starts again.' Two weeks after her first treatment, her hair started to fall out. 'My skin changed overnight. I've gone from having clear skin to acne on my face, chest and back,' she said. 'It's not something I can hide, and that's been one of the hardest parts.' In September, Dakota is scheduled to undergo surgery to remove the lymph nodes from her right side. If chemotherapy hasn't shrunk the tumour enough by then, doctors will perform a mastectomy. Determined to keep her mind active, she recently began an internship with a marketing agency. 'I just wanted to keep my brain moving and keep learning as much as I can,' she explained. Still, daily life looks dramatically different now. Even something as simple as leaving the house has become a challenge. 'It's whether you're brave enough to go to the grocery store with no hair and have everyone look,' she said. 'Otherwise it's, "Where's my wig? I've got to put my wig on". Those appearance-based things mean a lot more now. You're looked at differently.' Being 29 and living in Melbourne, she used to thrive on a busy social life. 'There was always something happening - going out for a wine during the week, seeing friends, just being out and about,' she said. 'Now it feels like everything's been put on hold.' Even the small things - those most people wouldn't think twice about - have shifted. 'I have to be so careful about what I eat, make sure all my vegetables are washed properly, make sure I'm walking, moving my body, keeping on top of everything. It's a lot. A lot of things have changed,' she said. The experience has made her re-evaluate everything - including how long the cancer may have been growing. 'I was told I had a fatty lump in my breast when I was 21. I didn't get it checked again until now,' she said. 'Looking back, I wonder if that was the start of it.' Despite everything, Dakota has found strength in unexpected places. She's continued doing Pilates and is completing her internship to stay mentally stimulated between treatments. 'There were a couple of weeks where I was in a 'poor me' headspace,' she said. 'But I've had to shift my mindset. I don't want cancer to take more from me than it already has.' She's also been buoyed by support from her loved ones. Her mum has flown to Melbourne twice to help care for her, and her partner has remained by her side. 'He's been incredible. His workplace has been so understanding, and not everyone is that lucky,' she said. But Dakota knows many other women don't have the same support - or access to early screenings. Since sharing her story, she's been contacted by other women in their twenties who are also battling breast cancer. 'I've heard from girls as young as 20 who have it. We're not anomalies - it's happening more and more,' she said. 'But there's still a massive age bias. We're told we're "too young" for breast cancer. We're not taught to check our breasts. Screenings aren't offered to us. And when we do speak up, we're often dismissed.' That's why she's launching a donation fund to help women under 40 access early breast cancer screenings - even if they don't have symptoms or family history. 'There's just no help for us,' she said. 'You shouldn't have to find a lump or wait until it's stage 3 to get answers.' Her goal is to have the fund up and running by the end of the year. 'I don't want to just survive this. I want to do something with it,' she said.
