(NewsNation) — A terrifying accident has everyone asking a Virginia woman the same question: How are you still alive?
Jordan Hatmaker was skydiving in November when the worst thing that could happen happened: Her parachute didn’t open.
The plane was more than 13,000 feet above the ground when she jumped, and she hit the ground at about 80 miles per hour.
She suffered several horrific injuries, but somehow she’s still alive to tell her story.
“(The doctors) think it’s really a miracle as well. It’s really unexplainable. I just thank God every day that I’m alive,” Hatmaker said Thursday night during an appearance on “Banfield.”
“I knew something was wrong immediately upon pulling my chute when it wrapped around my leg You just kind of go in strategy mode: ‘What can I do to get out of this situation,” she said.
Hatmaker’s reserve parachute did actually fire, but it made her main parachute pop out at the same time.
“They pulled away from each other in the air and then dragged me down in kind of a spiral motion,” she explained.
Once she realized she was going down, Hatmaker had one minute before she hit the ground.
“I was just calm. I really just wanted to go into flight or fight, no pun intended. Since I wasn’t flying, I was fighting. I went into survival mode, and I was just trying to be as calm as possible,” she said.
Hatmaker believes that the way she fell saved her life, with her leg hitting the ground first.
“I live my life to the fullest, I’m not gonna let something like this slow me down or keep me from doing things that I love,” Hatmaker added. “I’ll likely skydive again.”