Darts MC John McDonald recalls horrific 70-foot parachute fall that left him paralysed

July 17, 2024

The PDC Master of Ceremonies and popular darts figure John McDonald almost died during his previous job as a paratrooper, but somehow survived a 70-foot fall.

Speaking on the Darts Show podcast, McDonald recalled being on battalion exercise when the incident happened. He reflected having a 'horrific time' during the exercise with three men dying due to parachute accidents.

"There was a new chute involved and I wasn't exactly sure whether it was the right thing for the job," said McDonald about his nightmare accident. "I was only about nine stone so the lighter you are the more equipment you get to bring to the drop zone. We had to put it all on our back."

McDonald explained that his fears about the parachute came true and as it opened the darts icon was sent into a twist. Despite kicking to untwist the parachute he only got more tangled while being weighed down by heavy equipment.

"I was literally feet from the ground at that point when someone went underneath me and stole the air from the parachute, it completely collapsed and then I fell about 70 foot, upside down, my feet were still in the rigging lines," McDonald added.

"All the equipment is still on into the ground, I remember nothing. I woke up six weeks later in a military hospital, couldn't move a muscle, couldn't feel any part of my body apart from my face. You can imagine the kind of extent of that damage, I don't think on that medical list there was too many areas of my body that was ticked."

The now Master of Ceremonies had crushed the C5 and C6 vertebrae at the top of his spine leaving him paralysed. However, during the next 18 months he gradually regained feeling.

"I was paralysed to the extent where every day I could feel something, it was like having this tremendous pins and needles," McDonald added. "Suddenly I could feel it and I was probably the only one that wasn't concerned."

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