The third Australian BASE fatality. Joe is so nervous about the jump that friends later remarked about it.
Apparently he had an off heading opening and failed to adequately respond.
He hit the wall several times and lay injured at the bottom.
It is reported with some speculation that if someone on the load had some basic first aid skills, Joe might have survived.

- Updated report by First Responder on Scene.
After Joe hit the ground, Peter B, a jumper with First Aid Certificate and experience attending to parachuting accidents was with Joe within 10 seconds.
About 20 minutes after the accident Joe stopped breathing.
At that point Peter moved Joe's body into a recovery position and Joe began breathing again.
It became obvious to him that broken ribs had punctured Joe's lungs.
He also had at least one broken leg and numerous facial and head lacerations (his helmet was torn off during the accident).
10 minutes later Joe stopped breathing again and CPR was ineffective. Joe never regained consciousness throughout these efforts.
Rescue Services arrived an hour later and the helicopter an hour after that when it was too dark to winch out of the 900ft gorge.

Reportedly, an off the record comment was made by medical staff that he would have died even if the helicopter had been there within 5 minutes.

If you have a picture, or more details of this jumper, please contact us.