OSAGE COUNTY, KS (KCTV) -
A 27-year-old Georgia woman completed her mission of skydiving in all 50 states in Kansas.
Jumping out of a plane is nothing new for Nicole Smith. She has jumped more than 600 times in 49 states. She got No. 50 on Saturday while skydiving over Osage City, but it has not been an easy road.
"It is a goal that I had initially set for myself in 2009 whenever I did my fourth skydive in Hawaii," Smith said.
Smith did this after being told by doctors she may never walk again. She was in a car wreck in June 2011 and suffered multiple injuries, including broken ribs, pelvic fractures, a punctured lung and two brain injuries. Doctors thought she might not walk again.
After months of physical therapy, Smith returned to skydiving in November.
"What is life really about? We are supposed to be able to enjoy it. I had been working and saving and investing like I was going to retire at 40, and I almost didn't make it out of my 20s," she said.
She said she was nervous the first time she tried it.
"It was so overwhelming, seeing the ground, seeing how high I was. I had always been an adrenalin junkie. It was that moment for me of that it won't get better than this," Smith said.
But now that she has reached her goal, she plans to keep going.
"It becomes more of a sensation of peace, getting up in the air at 14,000 feet and free falling. It is so peaceful, and it puts life in perspective for me, 60 seconds at a time," she said.
Click here to read Smith's blog.
Copyright 2012 KCTV (Meredith Corp.) All rights reserved.
© Courtesy: Emily Royal
