Viral Video Of Man Having Seizure While Skydiving In Australia Sparks Controversy

IN PHOTO: A small private plane piloted by Sharon Trembley crashes to the ground after getting tangled in the parachute of skydiver John Frost before crashing to the ground at South Lakeland Airport March 8, 2014 in this handout photo provided by Tim Telford, courtesy of Polk County Sheriff's Office in Mulberry, Florida. Both the pilot and the skydiver were hospitalized with minor injures after the collision. REUTERS/Tim Telford/Polk County Sheriff's Office/Handout via Reuters Reuters/Tim Telford

A YouTube video of a man having seizure while skydiving not only went viral but also sparked a controversy. Commenters are polarized on who is at fault. Is it the man who did the stunt despite his health condition or the skydive company that had no policy to not permit him to do so?

Titled “GUY HAS SEIZURE WHILE SKYDIVING,” the two-minute viral video was uploaded by the man himself named Christopher Jones, 22, using the YouTube handle Nomadic Adrenaline. It shows Jones losing consciousness while 9,000 feet above the ground in Pinjarra, 80 kilometres south of Perth, Australia.

“Yeah, I exited the plane at 12,000 feet. Everything was fine. And then Sheldon came to me, signalled to me to start doing the left-hand 360 turn. And yeah, I blacked out,” Jones told ABC referring to his instructor Sheldon McFarlane.

The decision to allow Jones to skydive was based on a letter from his doctor, according to the WA Skydiving Academy chief instructor Robin O'Neill. It was the skydive company’s first time to do so, and after the controversy, the company changed its policy so people with epilepsy are no longer allowed to skydive.

The incident took place in November 2014 but it was only uploaded on YouTube on March 1, Sunday. Just two days later, the video has attracted more than 7 million views with more than 26,000 likes and more than 1,000 thumbs down. Watch the video here: