Experienced skydiver deliberately fell to her death, coroner finds

An experienced skydiver deliberately fell to her death in April after ending her relationship with her partner the night before, an inquest has heard.

Jade Damarell, 32, died of blunt trauma injuries after falling from 15,500ft (4,600 metres) into a field in Shotton Colliery, County Durham, on 27 April.

At an inquest at Crook civic centre in County Durham on Thursday, the coroner Leslie Hamilton gave a conclusion of suicide, finding that Damarell had intended to take her own life.

Hamilton summarised a note from her former partner, whom she had met through their shared love for skydiving, which read that “they had ended their relationship the night before”.

The inquest heard that Damarell, an experienced skydiver from Caerphilly in Wales had completed more than 500 jumps, including six on the day before her death.

On her final jump, however, the inquest was told that Damarell had deliberately not deployed her main parachute, which is usually opened at about 5,000ft. She had also turned off a device designed to automatically deploy a parachute at a certain speed or altitude should a skydiver be unable to do so. The parachute and device were found to be in full working order.

The inquest heard that Damarell normally wore a camera to capture her dives, but was not wearing one on the day she died.

Hamilton concluded that Damarell, a “very experienced” skydiver, had intended to end her own life.

The inquest heard that DI Andrew Stephenson of Durham police, who attended the scene, found that Damarell had left instructions on her phone’s lock screen about how to access it after her death. His report said that notes addressed to her family were found on the handset, which included her “apologising and thanking them for their support”, as well as details of her finances.

Speaking after the inquest, Damarell’s family accepted the coroner’s findings and thanked the skydiving community for its support, saying they were “incredibly comforted by how admired, respected and deeply loved she was”.

Describing her as “brilliant, beautiful, brave and truly extraordinary”, they said they wanted to speak “openly and without shame” about her death to “contribute to a culture where mental ill-health is met with kindness and support, and where people in deep distress, and those around them, feel seen, believed and able to reach for support without fear of judgment”.