Utah man goes skydiving. Then he gets hurt in harrowing experience—now he’s issuing a warning: ‘Is this guy gonna open the parachute?’

Eli McCann (@eliwmccann), a New York Times bestselling author, shared a story about a surprise excursion his husband planned. Only it ended up being one of the most terrifying experiences of his life.

The writer told his TikTok audience in a video that received more than 2.4 million views that the skydiving trip never felt safe. McCann spent an endless amount of time scouring the internet for information about the activity beforehand. But despite being well-informed, he felt completely unprepared for what happened during the dive.

Getting ready

McCann said that his husband, while well-intentioned, planned a complete misfire of a birthday gift. The author was so scarred by the experience that he concluded most people who praise skydiving are lying about it. Or at the very least, are not describing how terrifying it actually is.

“ I re-scoured the entire internet before we went,” he told his audience. “The entire internet said, ‘Oh, … You get an adrenaline boost, and it's a little scary to jump out of the plane, but you're strapped to somebody, and there's … a guide … Once you jump out, then it's just so fun. It's just like floating in air. It's euphoric.'”

McCann didn't have a “fun” or even “pleasant” experience. He told his audience that when he and his husband arrived to skydive, they were given minimal instruction. The three-minute tutorial they received, he said, felt inadequate when compared to the potentially hazardous activity they were about to do.

He said that as soon as his group got into the plane and started to head up into the sky, he began to panic. His husband, however, was perfectly calm. He remained that way once they got up in the air, and the process of strapping people to skydivers began.

“And this guy's strapping me to him, and he's like… It's so loud in there, and he's continuing to yell instructions at me, and he's like, ‘Whatever you do, don't move your arm this way. Keep your head pressed back to me.'”

McCann questioned what would happen if he didn't follow the skydiver's instructions to the letter. Would they crash into the ground and pass away? Would something malfunction?

He couldn't necessarily dwell on those questions. Before long, it was his turn. Someone pushed him out of the plane, and he was headed straight toward “nothingness.”

The actual trip

McCann thought that at some point, the experience during the dive would stop feeling scary. But he said that moment never arrived.

“ It was like violence. Like, it's so loud. It's like, and you're just falling into nothingness, right? And it's the whole time. And I think the entire way down I was making this sound. The whole way down, uh, one breath, one singular breath, and you're falling forever,” McCann said.

As he continued falling, McCann began to fear that the instructor who was there with him would never pull the handle to release the parachute. The dive continued perilously.

But it was even worse when the instructor actually released the parachute. McCann said that upon the release, he realized he was relying on the parachute to bring him to safety.

“All of your body … All the weight goes to the very bottom of those straps, which is, like, on your thighs. And so I have, like, 160 pounds of body weight on these two straps, that I was just, like, convinced that they were gonna come loose and I was gonna fall out of this,” he said.

Eventually, McCann and his tandem skydiver made it close to the ground. Then they landed, which McCann said was “harder” than he could've imagined. The content creator said his tailbone was bruised for three weeks after skydiving. The professional with him asked him to get up, but he couldn't—at least for a few seconds.

After the experience, employees with the skydiving company took McCann out of the straps and equipment. He was free. In the car, McCann said he told his husband to  ”Never surprise [him] ever again with anything.”

@eliwmccann

Skydiving

♬ original sound – Eli McCann

The truth about skydiving

In the comment section, multiple viewers said that they would never skydive, citing the mistakes licensed professionals could make during routine trips.

One commenter said, “I lived right near a skydiving place for 15 years. Every few years someone would die. Like, they would fall in a neighbor's backyard DEAD. The place would change its name and reopen.”

The actual statistics about skydiving, however, paint a very different picture. In 2024, as little as nine people died while skydiving in the United States, according to the 16 individuals. Statistically, that's still an impressively low figure. Members of the USPA made an estimated 3.47 million skydives in 2025, with the USPA giving the year a fatality index of 0.46 deaths per 100,000 jumps.

That isn't to say that commenters' fears aren't justified. Jumping out of a plane can feel anxiety-inducing, regardless of prior knowledge. For many, it's simply not an activity they'd ever want to do. McCann, for instance, seems resolved to never skydive again.

Buzz News reached out to McCann via TikTok direct message for comment.