Sports

Viral Video: Yes, You Can Bungee Jump in a Wheelchair

Posted on March 23, 2012 at 10:12pm by Liz Klimas
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Just because someone needs to use a wheelchair due to a disability does not mean all bets are off for extreme sports or adventures like bungee jumping, skydiving, jet-boating, snowmobiling, snowboarding and wind-tunnel flying. Those are just to name a few.

Christi “LynX” Rougoor is a perfect example of a woman confined to a wheelchair who doesn’t let it get in the way of her adventuresome spirit. According to ITN News, Rougoor became a paraplegic after a motor-cross accident but her being an adrenaline junkie didn’t end there. Watch the report of how the video showing Rougoor bungee jump in her wheelchair has become a viral sensation:

CTV reports Rougoor, 25, saying every time she sees the footage her “heart leaps.” She said the experienced helped her feel more like the person she was before her 2008 accident:

“I think a lot of the things I‘ve done since my accident have made my parents think twice about where I go and who I’m meeting with but I think they trust I‘m the same person I was before the accident and I’m going to keep doing the things I love.”

Video of Bungee Jumping in a Wheelchair Goes Viral

Hoisting her over the bridge.

There she goes.

She said it felt like a roller coaster at first, then smoothed out.

While Rougoor may be today’s poster child for showing how thrill seeking is possible in a wheel chair, she is by no means the first. There are several videos on YouTube of others who have taken the plunge as well in wheelchairs. Here are just a couple. Canadian paralympian Rick Hansen takes a dive:

This one has a video cam attached to the wheelchair to let you experience what it might be like to fall with the person:

As mentioned in the ITN News report, bungee jumping is not all that’s available either. 9Lives Adventures hosts “tours” for those like Rougoor who are in wheelchairs and those who aren’t. While we could list all that they can, it’s better described in pictures and videos:

(Photo: 9Lives Adventures)

“Incomplete” quadriplegic goes ATVing:

No wheelchair necessary to fly in this motorless plane:

Or how about a boat ride “like you’ve never experienced before?”:

Find more adventure videos from 9Lives Adventures here.

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Comments (21)

Cemetery
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 10:18pm
I didn’t think bungee required the ability to walk. You know, since you just, fall…
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Mr.Fitnah
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 9:33pm
Yeah big deal Im sure you could strap one to a 777 and fly Xcross country.
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RinkyDink34
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 3:04pm
This poor boy is not only dead from the neck down but the neck up!
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ADNIL
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 11:30am
Why did she have to use the wheelchair to jump? Was it for effect? Do you need to walk to be abe to fall? Would not a paraplegic be equal to any other person falling? I guess I just answered my own question.

I never understood adrenaline junkies.
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- Stirling
  Posted on March 26, 2012 at 1:34am
  The reason they jump with the wheel chair might be that a person that is paralyzed can’t control their limbs and the lack of control could cause further injury.
  Report Post »
windwalker
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 11:11am
Wants to see a great video of persons with disabilities overcoming barriers to recreation check these out. These videos I think are the best ones online today. Go to this link http://www.funtosail.com (video shows many sports other than sailing) then click on the disAbled tab… one of the videos is the New Paralyzed Vets of America sports video (my sailing program is at the 19:40 spot), and the other is of me and my friend with a Spinal Cord Injury and a double amputee sailing/kayaking down a river. I have been working with individuals with disAbilities for a very long time particularly multihulls sailing. My friends awesome statement even though technically he has a disAbility says “I am still looking for my disAbility” Even though he has no legs and a spinal cord injury I find that he doesn’t have a disAbility as he lets nothing limit him. Doctors keep telling him he only has so long to live and he keeps proving him wrong. If this economy was not so hard on my business I would be buying him some life saving medicine he can not afford. I am a little selfish here I mainly want to keep him around as he has blessed my life so much and I just can’t imagine not having such a friend in my life. I hope you all have such a person in your life.
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MittensKittens
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 8:20am
If you think that’s real, I know a video of a guy flying with giant wings!
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4xeverything
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 7:51am
OK, this is pretty awesome, but I just don’t understand why she had to take her chair over the rail with her. Was that really necessary?
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grannyrecipe
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 6:46am
There’s a Dane in Canada? How the heck did he get up thar?
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sarnold51
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 12:26am
The question is…should you???
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SuttonShimai
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 11:56pm
They NEVER show you how they get out of the bungee cord after it’s all over!
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- Gr8St8ofWA
  Posted on March 24, 2012 at 4:26am
  I‘ve jumped a bunch of times in Idaho in the 90’s, where it’s still legal to jump off a perfectly good bridge. To answer your question, depending on the structure and rigging, the jump-master will take the pull-up rope connected to something that looks like a solid bicycle tire inner-tube (12-16 inch diameter) and latch it around the bungee cord. The loop has enough weight that it easily pulls the rope down to the jumper, who will connect the end of the rope to the climbing harness around their waist (using a large steel-D carabiner). Your then hoisted up. The guys I went with had the whole round-trip down to about 5 min. I haven’t personally seen a para/quad jumper before, but I’ve seen the jump-master free-rappel down to a jumper when there was some wind blowing and the inner-tube loop either broke or fell. All in all, I wouldn’t hesitate to jump again with a legit group… there’s nothing like it in the world!
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dinadp
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 10:51pm
I love Rick Hansen. And Mercer’s pretty cool too. Canada rocks!!
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Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 10:40pm
Lets see. A paralyzed person jumps off a bridge, if the cord breaks, it’s assisted suicide, if they live, it’s a Lifetime Movie. The only thing missing is the Rednecks with Shotguns at the bottom yelling “Pull”.

Come on you trolls, post away.
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- Onowicit
  Posted on March 23, 2012 at 11:51pm
  Pull! Exception though, I think it should be potato guns.
  Report Post »
- Onowicit
  Posted on March 23, 2012 at 11:57pm
  Wait! does this make me a troll because I excepted your invitation or because I want to use potato guns?
  Report Post »
- Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
  Posted on March 24, 2012 at 12:51am
  @Onowicit
  There is no way you can ever be labeled as a troll]
  
  You are simply, a monkey with a hammer and a typewriter. Sooner or later you will either print the likes of Shakespear or beat the rest of of into a plowshare. Either way, the monkey with a hammer will make a better place of this world than Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra. His arm open wide.
  Report Post »
- Onowicit
  Posted on March 24, 2012 at 10:13am
  Ok Im crying. Darmok rules.
  Report Post »
AllAmericanGirl22
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 10:29pm
Awesome, this proves that you can do anything that you put your mind to, which is what America is all about!
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Stoic one
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 10:22pm
if these things are what you want to do — GO FOR IT!

Regardless of the politics of health insurance, If you are in a ‘mishap’ our emergency medical people of today will be there to help – IF you survive.
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lukerw
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 10:15pm
If it does not Kill you, it will make you Stronger… is a stupid lie!
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