A seasoned skydiver fell over 15,000 feet to her death earlier this year, and now a coroner is shedding light on what happened. Jade Damarell, a 32-year-old marketing manager and “very experienced skydiver,” passed away on April 27 due to blunt force injuries sustained during her tragic fall.
Four months later, an inquest was held at Crook Civic Centre in County Durham near where the incident took place. At the August 21 hearing, a coroner determined that Damarell deliberately fell without deploying her parachute, ruling her death a suicide. The Guardian reported the news.
Damarell and her partner had ended their relationship a day before her death, as reported by coroner Dr. Leslie Hamilton at the inquest. That same day, she had safely completed six skydiving attempts. Throughout her life, Damarell had done more than 500 jumps successfully.
Following her final jump near Fleming Airfield, Durham police DI Andrew Stephenson discovered notes addressed to the deceased family, “apologising [sic] and thanking them for their support.” She had also left instructions on how to access her phone and finances for those she left behind.
Authorities also concluded that Damarell had intentionally turned off her safety parachute device, which is supposed to automatically deploy at a certain altitude. The skydiver usually wore a helmet with a camera attached to the top, but chose to dive without it on the day of her death. A toxicology report came back clean of any alcohol or drugs.
Damarell’s parents attended the inquest remotely and accepted the outcome, which ruled their daughter’s death a suicide. “Our beloved daughter Jade was a brilliant, beautiful, brave and truly extraordinary person,” they said in a report following the hearing, “a bright, adventurous, free spirit, she lived with immense energy, passion and love and touched countless lives with her warmth and kindness.”
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