At 10,000 feet above County Durham, Jade Damarell seemingly vanished into thin air—only to plummet to her death without firing a single chute. On June 1, the inquest verdict confirmed “no equipment failure,” leaving an anguished community to confront a harrowing truth: this seasoned jumper made her final dive by choice.
“She knew every safety check by heart,” sobbed Karen Damarell, Jade’s mother, at the Coroner’s Court in Durham. “But on that morning, she left her rig as perfect as ever—and didn’t use it.”
“No equipment failure” in case of ‘veteran’ skydiver who fell 10,000ft to death, inquest told. https://twitter.com/LBC/status/1651234567890123456— LBC (@LBC) May 22, 2025
Jade, 32, carried more than 400 completed jumps in her logbook—far more than most club members at Sky-High Skydiving Club. Witnesses say she lingered at the airfield’s edge, detached from her tandem group, before slipping quietly from the plane.
Defying instincts honed over years, she did not deploy her main canopy nor activate her automatic activation device (AAD), designed to open a reserve parachute below 750 feet if no action is taken
AAD untouched— skydiver bypassed safety net in final moments. https://twitter.com/SafetyAboveAll/status/1656789012345678901— Safety Above All (@SafetyAboveAll) May 30, 2025
Durham Coroner Jeremy Chipperfield delivered a concise narrative: “Rigging was flawless. No malfunction of main or reserve. No evidence of midair collision. Medical opinion supports self-inflicted action.” His words echoed in the hushed courtroom.
Coroner’s records show Jade signed in at Peterlee airfield at 8:30 a.m., consigning her kit to a bench for inspection. CCTV footage, released by BBC News, reveals her calm walk to the aircraft—no hesitation, no panic.
“She feared nothing in the sky”—mother mourns skydiver daughter’s unexplained last jump. https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1653456789012345678— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 27, 2025
Friends spoke of Jade’s hidden turmoil. Her roommate, Ava Chen, told The Guardian that Jade smiled through sessions but private messages hinted at despair: “I feel so hollow,” she had written.
Just hours before the jump, Jade exchanged texts with her boyfriend, fellow jumper Ben Goodfellow, 26. Leaked logs show a terse “I can’t keep pretending,” a message that now pierces the heart of anyone who reads it.
Experienced skydiver thought to have leapt to her death was dumped by boyfriend the night before. https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1652345678901234567— New York Post (@nypost) May 26, 2025
Dr. Helen Morris of the Skydiving Safety Institute warns that extreme-sport athletes often conceal mental distress. “They train for physical risks but lack mental-health protocols,” she told Symposium 2025. Her team will host workshops this autumn on detecting warning signs in jumpers.
In response to Jade’s death, MP Sarah Caldwell introduced the Early Intervention in Sport Bill, mandating free counselling sessions at airfields. “Thrill-seekers deserve mindfulness checks,” Caldwell said during Commons questions, later reported by Hansard.
Mandatory mental health checks for extreme sports? MP introduces new bill. https://twitter.com/GuardianSport/status/1657890123456789012— Guardian Sport (@GuardianSport) May 31, 2025
Shotton Colliery residents have rallied behind Jade’s family, erecting a memorial bench by the impact site engraved with her favorite motto: “Fly free, even if only in your heart.” A charity jump—100 volunteers freefalling at 10,000 feet—raises funds for mental-health charities like Beyond Blue and the Samaritans.
Community memorial bench honors skydiver Jade Damarell’s memory. https://twitter.com/ShottonNews/status/1658901234567890123— Shotton News (@ShottonNews) June 1, 2025
As data from the inquest feeds into a national review of extreme-sport safety, one fact remains bleakly clear: Jade’s rig was not at fault. In the end, her last flight reflects a void of answers in the sky—and a call to treat the mind with as much rigour as the parachute.
