It’s been an incredibly difficult week. Last Saturday we lost our dear friend Jimmy Freeman, in a BASEjumping accident. Jimmy was such a huge part of our lives it’s impossible to put into words what his passing means to us, and the many other people whose lives he touched. I had the privilege of having him call me ‘mum’. He accompanied us on many of our expeditions, and we jumped with him around the world. I loved jumping with Jimmy. His talent and ability was so inspiring. I hope wherever he is, he is soaring free.
Of course the media had a field day with the accident, as they do every time there is a basejumping accident or death. Calls for basejumpers to pay for their own rescues etc etc. We’ve heard it all before. It’s distressing for a lot of reasons, not least because it’s a result of perspective skewed by unbalanced reporting. Thousands of basejumps take place, around the world every month, unreported and completely uneventful, but every time there is an accident it is major news. Imagine if every fatal or serious car accident was major news. We might have a very different view of driving.
The small regard some parts of the media have for the truth was highlighted for me again today when stories appeared in UK newspapers about our 2006 World Record for altitude BASEjumping. The article reported that we jumped off Mt Mehru in Tanzania, instead of Mt Meru in India; that we took 23 hours instead of 23 days to climb it; that I started basejumping in 2005, instead of 2000 and it even had a picture of us flying over the top of Mt Connor, with a caption saying we basejumped off it (how could you have basejumped from something you are above?). They got dates wrong, major facts wrong, it was astonishing. If you want to have a look here’s the link…
Jimmy was often upset about the inaccuracies written about him and basejumping in general. At least he’s free of that now.