HIS LAST DIVE

Taranaki Central Press, 19 April 1937, Page 7

HIS LAST DIVE

O . MAN BREAKS BACK. . Drop of 185 Feet. San Fratietsco, March 30. A broken ba,ck for a broken record was the ragic r suit when a stunt diver, Ray Woods, made a spectacular 185 ft dive from the world’s longest bridge, the San Fran.Leo-Oakland trans bay bridge. It was. the first attempt by a professional to leap from the monumen al engin ering structure, which cost 75.000,000 dollars to erec*. While other bridge-jumpers and stunt men were seeking permission to try the tlizzy bridge leap or w re calculating their chances, Woods, chose a spot between Tier No. 1 and :he centre anchorage, some 185 ft above water lev 1. He struck the Water heavily, and was floundering h Iplr-ssly When a launch rescued him and brought him to the Harbour Emergency Hospital, where doctor g said he had suffered a broken back. Although he had announc d :ha* he would use a special diving suit tor his lump, he was clad in ordinary street clothes. | Woods had earlier sought permission :o jump f’’om the bridge, but th' California Toll Bridge Authority re 7 fused to grant his request. Doctors at the hospital, where he lay, paralysed from the waist down, upon a mattress, told him his chances for life were esc lien'. “Ray Woods’ will live,” wa s the word that passed from mouth to mouth. Surgeons and nurses nodded confirmation "But —” Accepted Fate stoically. The 30 year-old St. Louis diver, whose .hr e and a half seconds plunge through space from the lower It- k ol .he massive bridge structure staJjlisht.J an all-time high dive record, accepted his'fat: stoically. “Yes, I’m s’ill the champion," ho laughed wryly, as his wife and mo her continued their vigil beside his hospital bed. “But what good Will it do me? And I planned to jump from the Golden Gate. Bridge next." With spe-c'a ors numbering leas than 20, Woods hurled himself from, the lower deck of the bridge. Below waited a fast launch containing the anxipiis-faeed wife and mother, and Ted Needham, IS-year-old American interscliolas’tic Idiving champion previously chosen by Woods to act as lifeguard in an emergency. Woods wag driven to the bridge span in a motor truck. At the chosen spot he stepped from the truck, clembered to the bridge rail, poised a. moment and hurled himself backwards. Down, down, down, for what seemed an' eternity, the diver seemed motionless in the air. Perfect .start. Suddenly his body kent, his hands touched hip toes. Then hi s body s raightened, head down. Thos , in j the boat below heaved a sigh of re- | lief, for Ray was making a perfect I lack knife. Suddenly the flashing, j plummeting body twisted—caught by j :he w’ind. j The. washing mother and Wife gasped. Young Needham sprang to he prow of the launch and poised, ready to dive. Woods’s body struck the water with terrific impact. But It did not strike true, as it had done in 181 previous leaps from high bridges all over the North American continent. The vagrant wind had completed its mischief. The diver's legs snapped back over his body. Young Needham dived. swam frantically. After an interminable time Woods’s body floated fape I down, like an old sack, on the suri lace of the bay. The youth and the broken body of this champion, high • diver Were dragged from the. waters. The launch swung about and began its 1 race against death to a waiting ambulance, and with blankets piled upon him and rescuers massaging his face and arms. Woods recovered consciousn .st and murmured: “Quit slapping me, I’m 0.K." “Once everything is set and I’nt ready to go, I forget fear and always feel quite calm,” said Woods later in talking of his previous l exploits. “1 made good money at it—and gut a big thrill out of it. In this case 1 stepped off backward and counted four. Then I bent double and ! grabbed my left thumb with my right . , rand. I was afraid of the wind, and spread my legs to keep them turning □v'.r. I hit the Water straight, but when I did, the shock turned my legs over my head. I wasn't unconscious j. entirely, and knew somebody grabbed ! me and was holding me up. On other ; occasions I have .felt numb af'er my , dives. Often my legs have felt use- | less, but the feeling soon came back 'o them."