I almost died.
Skydive Las Vegas was not a good choice. I wish I had chosen another place for this once in a lifetime activity. I did not like my guy. He seemed nervous and uneasy, which made me question, "how much experience does he have under his belt?" He didn't have good people skills either. Something about him was off.
As we were flying up, one guy from the crew kept making jokes that had to do with endangering our safety. The nuance of all the jokes made light of us trusting them with our lives. They seemed unprofessional and the jokes made me feel uncomfortable. When they saw that I wasn't amused at their jokes, they misread my expression and laughed at me saying I looked terrified.
Their unmannered joking aside, once we jumped, it was exhilarating. But my glorious bliss was short-lived to only about 5 seconds because I realized I could NOT BREATHE. The strong winds made it impossible for me to gasp for air. I assessed how far I was from landing. I had a moment seriously contemplating, "would I be able to make it and not pass out from lack of oxygen?" Even before I could finish my thought, I felt a rush of intense migraine settling upon me. I never felt such pain in my head. When my guy pulled out the parachute, that was when we slowed down the speed of our freefall, at this point I was enabled to quickly gasp for air.
But it got worse when he teetered tottered with the strings which sped up the fall all over again. Whenever he tilted to the side, I started to experience difficulty breathing because of the speed and the wind. Obviously I couldn't communicate to him that I wanted him to stop because I had no breath for words.
When we landed, I told the guy I had trouble breathing and that I was experiencing a headache. I asked if anyone passed out. He said he had a guy who actually fainted. But that was the extent of his response because he got the parachute tangled and was too occupied to care about my condition. I went inside and my headache got worse. I asked the guy at the counter for an aspirin. He didn't have any and he said he had to wait for the others on the plane to get back because they had the key. There was no one around this place to assist me and give me any kind of attention. I threw up in the bathroom.
Long story short, we ended up leaving. On our 30min drive back to the hotel, I threw up seven times!!! Back at the hotel, I had to be in bed for 1.5 days. I experienced 3 more massive migranes.
I searched my symptoms online. It matched to altitude sickness or hypoxia. Worst case scenario I could go into a coma. When I went back home, I went straight to my doctor. He confirmed that I experienced altitude sickness but seemed to be okay. A week later I encountered another massive migraine.These were the worst headaches I've experienced in my life. Because I continued to get migraines, my doctor ordered an MRI just to rule out any brain trauma. More money down the drain but it was necessary to have peace of mind.
Honestly, skydiving is an exhilarating activity and I would recommend it to anyone who has this on their bucket list. If I hadn't experience lack of oxygen I would have enjoyed it. However, in my case, I experience a dangerous symptom and I did not like how there was no one available. The skydive itself was amazing and I don't regret doing it. What I regret was choosing to have this experience with Skydive Las Vegas. They were unprofessional and there was no one available to assist me after the jump. If i had gotten an Advil or at least a simple advise on what I should do, I wouldn't have written this review. Even if what I experienced was unpreventable on their part and they have zero fault, they should have at least been available, been attentive, and provided basic information or advise to help my condition.
They just didn't care. I think it's because they have us sign off heavy paperwork before the jump that they have developed a culture of not caring. Their mindset seems to be that they are not obligated to care for anyone and are not responsible for anything.
No empathy, no mercy, just business.
Boo Skydive Las Vegas. read more