Paraplegic Afghanistan Vet Survives After 2 Chutes Fail in Sky Diving Crash

A Texas paraplegic Afghanistan war veteran managed to survive a harrowing parachute accident after his two chutes failed to deploy during a skydiving jump.

Michael Vasquez, 33, known as Wheelchair Skydiver on social media, was making what should have been a routine jump at Skydive Spaceland Dallas, in Whitewright, on Friday, August 13, when a malfunction led him to be hospitalized.

Speaking to KXII, Vasquez said: "Everything was great up until I pulled my main parachute and I had something called a bag lock which means the main parachute stayed inside the bag that it's supposed to deploy out of."

According to the network, the main chute went through the wheelchair tire and sent him spinning.

Vasquez, from Lubbock, tried to deploy his reserve chute, but it failed - leaving him to continue falling.

He continued to tell KXII: "At that point, I was kind of like well I'm coming in pretty hot, pretty fast. I was kind of just freaking out and screaming all the way down like no this can't be it, I thought I was gonna die."

Fortunately, the main chute opened up enough to slow down Vasquez's fall just enough for him to survive.

Vasquez was falling at 12 miles an hour when he hit the ground, shattering his femur and fracturing parts of his spine.

He said of the lucky escape: "If it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. If it's your time, it's your time. It's the same mindset I had when I was in Iraq."

Vasquez had been a static line jumper when he served in the Army and had been deployed to Afghanistan in 2009.

During his service, Vasquez was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade which caused him to require the use of a wheelchair.

He has since completed more than 200 jumps and added it is a way for him to feel "free again."

Vasquez added: "I wanted to do skydiving for me to kind of like be free again. In the air I can be like everyone else, I can do everything like everyone else, I don't need the use of my legs."

He continued: "Do what makes you happy, do what makes you feel free."

According to his Instagram account, Vasquez is now undergoing rehab for his injuries, although he hopes to be skydiving in the near future.