Dave Hartsock

Left with only a little bit of movement in his right arm, Dave Hartsock is one of the bravest sky diver instructors after he chose to save a stranger's life by risking his own. That stranger was Shirley Diegart, a postie. She was wanting to spend her 54th birthday with something exciting and she chose sky diving. Shirley was very excited as well as nervous. Dave and Shirley were doing a jump called a tandem jump where the instructor is connected to the person that has no experience. This is what happened. This is why Dave Hartsock is my hero.

In America, Texas, it was just another normal day for Dave as a sky diver instructor where he hops in a plane and then jumps out of it, then pulling the parachute and landing on the ground smoothly. But this day was completely different, it did not go as planned and he did not land smoothly. Shirley and Dave jumped out of the plane and they were free/falling at roughly 40 miles an hour. When it was time to pull the parachute open it only opened partially and the back up parachute just got tangled up with the first parachute. That is when Dave reacted to the situation.

Dave told Shirley to lift up her legs, then Dave pulled on the control toggles to rotate them so Dave would be underneath Shirley to act as a cushion. When they hit the ground Dave's spine was completely shattered but while he was lying on the ground he was able to say to Shirley "Are you ok?" before passing out. Dave is not dead but he is paralysed from the neck down and Shirley only got minor injuries in her neck. Dave is not angry, depressed or anything like that, in fact, he is happy as he can be.

That is another reason Dave is my hero because his life was completely changed to when he was jumping out of a plane and now he is in a wheelchair. What Dave did was heroic because he was selfless, he put another person that he barely knew first, he was brave to do what he did and personally to Dave he was just doing the right thing, he was responsible for Shirley so he took that responsibility by saving Shirley's life.

Dave is definitely a lifesaver, a brave person and he is self sacrificing - most of all he is a hero to all of us.