Jade Damarell, a 32 years old skydiver and marketing manager, lost her life during a jump from 10,000 feet in Shotton Colliery, Durham. Her de*th came just a day after she ended a relationship with her partner Ben Goodfellow, a fellow skydiver and technician.
Witnesses later said she deliberately chose not to deploy her parachute during the fall, despite having completed over 400 jumps in her lifetime and more than 80 in that year alone.
The couple, who had been living together in lodgings shared with other parachutists since Christmas, had once been deeply close. Friends described them as inseparable, spending nearly all their time together. But on the evening before the fatal jump, Ben ended the relationship. The following day, Jade went skydiving as usual but this time, she didn’t activate her parachute.
Emergency services responded immediately but she was pronounced de*d at the scene. Initially believed to be a tragic accident, her de*th was later described as a deliberate act by the skydiving facility SkyHigh Skydiving. According to a statement from the organisation, both police and British Skydiving believed the fall was intentional and that Jade had chosen not to open her parachute.
Reports later revealed that a note was found suggesting her actions were related to the recent breakup. Friends confirmed that while Jade had previously ended things with Ben, this was the first time he had been the one to walk away. One friend said Jade’s parachute did not malfunction, she simply never attempted to use it.
Police confirmed there was no indication of equipment failure and foul play was ruled out early in the investigation. Her parents, Liz and Andrew, shared their heartbreak in a statement, remembering Jade as a vibrant and courageous woman who brought joy and warmth to many lives.
Born in Kowloon, Hong Kong, on October 6, 1992, Jade was previously married to a lawyer but was believed to be divorced at the time of her de*th. The coroner listed her cause of de*th as blunt trauma.
This was really tragic.
