High-Flying Hero: Instructor Saves Man Having Seizure While Skydiving (Video)

There are plenty of things skydivers meticulously prepare for before jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, but "What to do if someone has a seizure while plummeting at terminal velocity" probably isn't the first thing on most people's minds.

Unfortunately, Sheldon McFarlane faced this problem when 22-year-old Christopher Jones began seizing after completing the first quarter of a 12,000-foot jump in Western Australia last November.

The incident was captured by McFarlane, a professional skydiving instructor, who was able to pull Jones' ripcord to slow his descent until he eventually regained consciousness with 3,000 feet to go.

Jones decided to try skydiving to experience free fall when his hopes of becoming a pilot were dashed after he was diagnosed with epilepsy:

I've always wanted to have the feeling of flight, so I just thought, considering I can't fly a plane due to my condition, I thought I'd give it a go.

He was cleared to jump by a specialist after four years without a seizure, but the jump will likely be his last.

As far as final jumps are concerned, though, things could have ended much worse.

Citations: Skydiver rescue: Dramatic video shows moment man suffered seizure during freefall over Pinjarra in WA (ABC)