Jack Jarvis: Record-breaking rower survives parachute disaster

Jack Jarvis, pictured seconds before his leg became entangled

A record-breaking rower has survived a parachute jump in which his leg was tangled and severely damaged.

Jack Jarvis, from Hamble, Hampshire, said he spent 10 seconds "fighting tooth and nail" to free his leg which had twisted around 180 degrees.

He managed to land at Netheravon, Wiltshire, before being flown by air ambulance to hospital on Wednesday.

Mr Jarvis, who holds a world record for rowing the Atlantic single-handed, said he felt lucky to be alive.

The 29-year-old said he pulled the cord to deploy his parachute at 3,500 feet (1,000m) after breaking away from a fellow jumper.

He said: "Deployment lines wrapped round my leg at about 120mph (190km/h) so some force went through my leg, left knee, and the sound was absolutely horrific.

"You don't have to be a physio - if your knee's facing away from your body and your foot's facing towards your body you know you're in a bit of a pickle.

The 29-year-old managed to land at Netheravon on one leg

"And so my leg's flapping around, I'm in a lot of pain. My back was facing towards the earth, my leg was up in the sky.

"I was just fighting tooth and nail. I remember saying: 'I don't want to die, I don't want to die.'

"[A man who] ...rows the Atlantic, ultra-marathon through the Chilean desert, multiple holidays to Ibiza - I wasn't going to perish on the Salisbury countryside, not today.

Mr Jarvis said he freed his leg after about 10 seconds, regained control of his parachute and made "probably the most accurate landing of my 26 jumps" near his support team.

Mr Jarvis faces 18 months of rehabilitation

Mr Jarvis said he faced 18 months of rehabilitation after damaging all of the ligaments and soft tissue in his knee.

He said: "It could have been a lot worse. I could be dead, could be paralysed. In a funny old way, even after everything that's happened to me, I do feel lucky."

In March 2022, he set a Guinness World Record when he became the first person to row across the Atlantic from mainland Europe to mainland North America non-stop.

Jack Jarvis holds a Guinness World Record for rowing the Atlantic solo