Broken leg doesn't ground skydiver for very long

LEBANON - The skydiver who broke his left leg in a hard landing on Friday afternoon was released from a hospital today and is returning to Skydive New England to finish out Tiki Bar Weekend, though he won’t likely be jumping out of any planes for a while, said Skydive New England spokesman Eli Bolotin this afternoon.

The 32-year-old Bay State skydiver, who has logged more than 500 jumps, was setting up for his final entry onto the facility’s landing area after an uneventful minute-long free fall when the mishap occurred.

“He was attempting to maneuver into position to land and did not level out and hit the ground with his left leg,” said Bolotin adding there were no equipment malfunctions associated with the incident and the parachute opened normally.

Bolotin said the skydiver was attempting to land in the main landing area on the west side of the runway prior to the hard landing.

The skydiver, whose name has not been released, was rushed to the helipad at Goodall Hospital in Sanford where he was airlifted to the trauma center at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Meanwhile, Bolotin said the official first day of Tiki Bar Weekend on Saturday went well despite a few delays due to weather concerns.

He said no record-setting formation jumps were attempted but they were hoping for good weather tomorrow in hopes of perhaps making an attempt.