Joel Strickland free-falls over Arizona, as viewed from the camera of Annette O'Neil, during the first jump of the pair's 50-state skydiving trip to raise awareness for veteran's charity Operation Enduring Warrior. The skydivers will jump over Toledo on Sunday.
When Annette O’Neil and Joel Strickland step out of an airplane over Toledo on Sunday, they’ll be checking off state No. 7 in a trip that will take them throughout the country by this fall.
They’re aiming to be the first to skydive all 50 states in a single trip, and they’re doing it for a cause they feel is important. The pair are trying to bring awareness to Operation Enduring Warrior, a volunteer-run charity whose skydiving program aims to get wounded veterans certified to make jumps on their own.
“We were really inspired by what they were able to do and the joy it brought the people they were working with,” O’Neil said.
The partners have been traveling for years, doing coaching, instructing and demonstrations. They met at a BASE jumping event in Istanbul in 2012. Now, they feel like they’re roving with a mission.
“It’s giving our lifestyle a little more purpose, rather than traveling from place to place for the sake of it,” Strickland said.
O’Neil got into skydiving at age 28, quickly making the transition from motorsports after her first jump.
“I just absolutely fell in love with the sky,” she said.
Strickland, who is British, discovered the sport on a backpacking trip in Australia.
“How do I make this be a job?” he wondered.
The pair will be making their journey through the contiguous United State in a motorhome, using motorcycles to get around once they get to each location. They discovered the veterans’ program through the Axis Flight School, which works with Operation Enduring Warrior from its homebase in Arizona.
Their 50-state journey is entirely self-funded.
“We have kind of unprecedented latitude to travel and get the word out and share,” O’Neil said. “We have a lot of time, so that’s what we’re dedicating to the program.”
According to O’Neil, skydiving is an ideal pursuit for wounded veterans, because it produces camaraderie and puts those who have lost limbs on an equal playing field.
“To put somebody in the freefall environment is really freeing, because they don’t need to have somebody around them supporting them,” she said. “They talk a lot about how the skydiving community has given them the same sense of brotherhood that they had when they were active duty.”
Heather Whittaker, the owner of Skydive Toledo, agreed with that characterization.
“Skydiving is one of those things that takes everything that’s weighing your mind down and puts it in perspective,” she said. “It’s something that can calm the soul. … For a veteran that’s going through hard times, that might be the thing that they need.”
O’Neil and Strickland are free fliers, which means they do aerial maneuvers before pulling their parachutes.
Spectators who come out on Sunday may also see skydivers doing group formations with and without parachutes, as well as wingsuiters. The event will start at 2 p.m. and run through sunset.
It’s not uncommon for spectators to show up to watch and be signing up for their first skydiving lesson by the end of the day.
“Every day,” O’Neil laughed.
Skydive Toledo is also hosting another wounded veterans event on July 4th, made up of mostly local skydivers. The drop zone is located at 5219 Jackson Highway.
