14,000-FOOT MIRACLE

The skydiver fully expected to die when her parachute failed to open. Instead, she's writing the next chapter of her life

- BY Ryan Hockensmith

EMMA CAREY IS FLYING, and she is so happy. She is 14,000 feet above the earth, gripping the straps of her parachute pack like an excited kid on the way to her first day of school. Oh my God, I’m going to become a skydiver, she thinks, not knowing that just about the most terrifying thing a human being can experience is about to happen to her.

She’s 20, an Australian kid travelling around Europe with her best friend, Jemma Mrdak. It is 9 June 2013, and Emma has no plans for what she’ll do when she returns home. It would oversimplify things to say her life was an open road because there was no road. Not yet, anyway.

Earlier that morning, in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, she and Jemma climbed into the back of a helicopter to ascend more than 4 kilometers into the sky. Each was latched to an experienced skydiver for a tandem dive. The helicopter was so loud that they couldn’t speak to each other, and it was so cloudy they could hardly see outside the chopper.

At some point, sensing Jemma’s nervousness, Emma gave her what they call ‘The Face’. It’s the kind of look that two longtime friends share that makes perfect sense to them and maybe only them. The Face involves smushing your upper lip underneath itself so that the absolute maximum amount of top teeth is showing.

Emma gave The Face to Jemma, and Jemma gave it back, and they both had to smile. This was a good reflection of their friendship: Jemma, the meticulous organizer, and Emma, the free-spirited adrenaline junkie. If you had a party, Jemma would help plan it and Emma would be the life of it.