Bob Woodbeck from Woody’s Glass has seen a lot of things in his lifetime, but never a parachute in his garden.
That’s what he got when he returned to his shop on Sawmill Road on Wednesday.
When he pulled into the driveway, someone informed him there was a parachute in his garden. And sure enough there was.
“Anybody check to see if there is anyone underneath?” Woodbeck asked.
No, so he looked underneath and didn’t see a soul.
Woodbeck then put the parachute in the back of his truck, only to have some fellow come by 20 minutes later and ask if he saw a parachute lying around.
Woodbeck learned that the jumper experienced some trouble in the air but managed a relatively safe landing.
The incident saw an ambulance and two police cruisers race to the scene.
Sergeant Ken Harrington of the Oliver RCMP said they received a report that a parachute failed to open. Paramedics arrived and were advised that a spare parachute had been released from a parachutist and did not open. No injuries were reported.
Andy Morris from Skydive Oliver said the parachute that landed in the garden was his main canopy for his tandem rig.
“I had an issue with the canopy on deployment and went on reserve.”
When you do that, your main canopy departs and you pick it up on the ground after landing.
“It’s rare but not uncommon procedure, and usually it doesn’t drift that far away or create so much attention,” Morris said.
