Eric Dossantos, a wingsuit expert, suffered a crash that almost cost him his life. On September 29, Mr. Dossantos, a daredevil known for his amazing BASE jumps using a wingsuit, decided to fly over Chamonix, France.
The anti-terrorism security soldier wore a GoPro camera to capture his breathtaking fly.
Dossantos, who is from California, has done many jumps in his career and he soared through the mountains without incident. He went between rocks at over 90mph before finding himself between high trees.
In the beginning, he was able to avoid the branches, but it became apparent that Mr. Dossantos miscalculated his trajectory because he went straight into a tree. It took emergency and trail workers more than three hours to hear him screaming for help.
Dossantos was taken to Annecy Hospital to be treated for his injuries. In an interview with Top Gun Base, Dossantos, 30, said that he is lucky to have survived. Dossantos said he has very little memory of the accident.
He also revealed that he sustained multiple injuries including a fractured shoulder and collarbone, neck abrasions, three broken ribs, liver lacerations, head trauma, and multiple scalp wounds. He said:
“It wasn’t until about the last five seconds that I felt the trees below me getting closer than I expected or wanted. Everything before that felt flyable to me.”
His friends have started a GoFundMe page for him to help pay for his medical bills. The page reads:
“This GoFundMe is for our good friend Eric.
He’s an active duty military and does anti-terrorism security.
On September 29th while living out his dream by proximity wingsuit base jumping in Chamonix, France.
Eric made a mistake that most people pay with their lives, he lost his speed and altitude and flew into a tree.Eric flew through a tree going over 90mph, he should have died, but and for the lack of a better word, it’s a MIRACLE he’s still with us. His injuries were “only” left scapula fracture, left acromian fracture, left neck abrasion, left clavicle fracture, 3 left side rib fractures, left hemopneumothorax, grade 1, liver laceration, head trauma, multiple scalp lacerations.”
They are hoping to raise $7,500 and have thus far collected only $165, and many are blasting the story calling it bogus. One very active commenter, who is asking for answers, wrote:
” Apparently the person that started this GoFundMe account doesn’t like us Military Veterans posting comments about the holes in his story. If this man is in the military (already requested conformation) then he had been taken care of by Tricare. The second part to this is that if he is in the military, he selfishly had taken it upon himself to take himself out of the fight. Now another Sailor must pick up his slack and cover down for him. Also, the taxpayer musty pay for his medical bills and VA bills for the rest of hours life because of a stupid selfish act. He is the reason for hours long safety stand downs. We are still waiting to hear on how he is an e-5 Navy “fighter pilot.”
The story has sparked a lot of reactions on social media.
