Family pay tribute to 'adventurous, free spirit' after inquest of experienced skydiver who died in Shotton Colliery
An experienced skydiver deliberately fell to her death from 15,500 feet the day after her relationship ended, an inquest heard.
Jade Damarell, 32, did not deploy her main parachute or the reserve and switched off an automatic activation device (AAD) before she crashed on to farmland near the airfield at Shotton Colliery, County Durham, on April 27.
The marketing manager who was born in Hong Kong and lived in Caerphilly, Wales, loved skydiving and had completed more than 500 jumps, the inquest at Crook Civic Centre was told.
The day before she died, she had completed six jumps safely and without issues.
Coroner Leslie Hamilton summarised a statement from her former partner which stated that “they had ended their relationship the night before”.
Ms Damarrel was seen eating toast in the base’s cafe before she jumped that morning and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
British Skydiving reported that all her equipment was in working order.
Police recovered Ms Damarell’s phone and found she had left instructions on its lock screen on how to open it and to look in its Notes folder.
She also left a note for her family.
Dr Hamilton gave a conclusion of suicide after finding that Ms Damarell intended to take her own life that morning.
After the inquest, her family released a statement in which they described her as “a bright, adventurous, free spirit,” who touched countless lives with her warmth and kindness.
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