Well I guess I got off easy with a mild sprained ankle.  The Eau Claire Leader Telegram is reporting that several people were injured over the weekend at the free fall experience attraction at Country Fest over the weekend.  The most severe was a broken neck and back, also two people broke their ankles doing the jump.

The design is a 25+ foot high platform that people pay $10 to jump off of onto a giant airbag.   You are instructed to land on your butt, while you jump.   However, from personal experience, I can tell you it's not exactly as easy as that.

I jumped with intentions of pulling my feet forward, but wasn't able to and landed square on my feet.   Without the surface area expanded on my body, I ended up actually feeling the ground once I hit, twisting my ankle enough that bruises showed up the next day.

Country Fest has said that the attraction will not return again, which I believe to be a smart move.   Considering that many of the people that jump may be under the influence of alcohol, and there is little to no training involved in the jump, it just spells disaster.

Lesson learned, and ankle healing...

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