1 day Ago By Cherie Howie
Former SAS soldier Jono Magee survived a severe skydiving accident thanks to a rapid medical response and whole blood transfusions. A decade-long Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter and New Zealand Blood Service partnership played a crucial role in his recovery. Experts say the expectant dad’s survival highlights the effectiveness of the Trauma Code Crimson process in reducing haemorrhagic shock deaths.
When SAS soldier Jono Magee crashed into the ground while sport skydiving on his day off, the Aucklander’s life was saved by the chain of survival medical process that began in a rural skydive landing zone and continued all the way to surgery in a city hospital. Four years, one engagement and two babies on-the-way later he tells Cherie Howie his story of survival, as Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter and New Zealand Blood Service mark a decade-long whole blood supply partnership that’s still saving Kiwi lives. Jono Magee will never know for sure what speed he hit the ground when a trick skydiving manoeuvere went horribly wrong on an early spring Saturday morning in north-west Auckland .
It was an otherwise ordinary jump for the then-SAS soldier who’d taken up sport skydiving in his spare time, crossing the city to Parakai to jump out of a plane and polish his skills before an upcoming competition. The 31-year-old was practising canopy piloting, also known as swooping, where a skydiver dives their canopy toward the ground to gain speed before flattening out and flying through a set of gates to measure speed, time and distance..
