21-05-2025
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.
