Sixteen year old Makenzie Wethington suffered broken pelvis, broken vertebrae and other serious injuries after her parachute malfunctioned while she was skydiving over Chickasha, Oklahoma on Jan. 25.
The teen, however, is lucky to have survived the 3,500 feet fall and doctors have more good news about her current condition. Doctors at the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation in Dallas, where Wethington is currently being taken care of, said she can now walk with assistance and may make a full recovery, albeit she likely needs to stay at the hospital for a few more weeks.
Seema Sikka, the physician overseeing Wethington's care, said doctors are still evaluating the patient's injuries which include a damaged liver as well as broken pelvis, lumbar spine, shoulder blade, several ribs and teeth. Cognitive evaluations are also being done but there's high hope the miracle girl can make full recovery.
"She's able to talk to us, tell us what she needs, tell us where she's at. Her memory from just before the accident is pretty good," said Sikka. "All of that tells me that it's not as severe as we might have thought. If she's continuing to make this type of progress that we're seeing now - she's young, she's motivated and she has great support. ... I think she could potentially have a full recovery."
Sikka said Wethington doesn't likely need any surgery in her recovery except for what may be needed to fix her dental fractures. Holly, Wethington's mother, said that the damage to the girl's teeth made it hard for her to talk.
"Her strength and her movement of her extremities and her sensation appears pretty intact, so I think her spinal cord itself has been pretty intact," said Sikka. The doctor also said that the main challenges in the teen's recovery is pain management but the teen will work on tasks such as brushing her teeth, getting out of bed and getting dressed.
Wethington's parents allowed her to skydive as a present for her 16th birthday and she got the go signal from Pegasus Air Sports Center to jump solo with her father's consent. The mishap happened when Wethington's parachute malfunctioned and she failed to deploy the reserve parachute as she was instructed to do.
"She probably panicked and did not follow the training," said Pegasus Air Sports Center owner Bob Swainson. "You've got to keep your head when you skydive. That's why people skydive. It is a dangerous activity. You've got to learn to keep your head even on your first jump, you have to keep your head."
