On August 20, 2006, Karina Hollekim had a skydiving accident that nearly took her life. She visited the Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival last weekend to give a lecture on her five-year battle to return to a normal life.
An accomplished skier, signed up to her first contract as early as 1992, and also a well-known veteran BASE jumper and skydiver, it was a ‘routine’ parachute jump five years ago that left the Norwegian with injuries that doctors told her would leave her unable ever to walk again.
“When I jumped out of the plane, we had a perfect skydive,” she told BBC Scotland this week. “What happened was I had a malfunction in my parachute and it started spinning uncontrollably… eventually I hit the ground at more than 100kph [60mph].”
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“I remember hitting the ground because I didn't hit my head,” she told The Scottish Sun. “So I remember bouncing and, after, hitting the rock. I was lying there on my back and I could see both of my legs twisted in an odd position, lying there right next to me. I was wondering if this was how it was to be dead. It was surreal.
“But a few seconds later, I could feel this really intense, deep pain. It was so overwhelming that I realised it was impossible to be dead if I could feel such pain. The pain became a positive – confirmation I was somehow still alive.”
Karina not only survived, but after intense rehabilitation at Red Bull’s DTC facility in Austria, she did walk again, and managed to realise her dream to ski again last year. She has also spent the last few years travelling the globe as a motivational speaker, and promoting her award-winning documentary film 20 Seconds of Joy.
“I think it’s very important to have a passion, you know?” she told the BBC. “In order to keep your motivation and keep you working towards your goal.
“And for me it was my dream to come back to the mountains and come back to skiing. That’s what kept me going.”
Want more?
- Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival website
- Karina's interview The Scottish Sun
- Karina Hollekim on Facebook
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