KNOXVILLE – The skydiver who crashed into a field in rural Knoxville last week has been identified, and an update to their condition has been released.

The Des Moines Skydivers said in a press release that Jessica Wiederholt, an experienced skydiver, was injured near the Knoxville Airport on Saturday, August 22, after becoming entangled with another jumper’s cut-away main parachute. Wiederholt was engaged in a sub-discipline of skydiving called Canopy Relative Work, also known as CRW (pronounced “crew”), in which skydivers deploy their parachutes immediately and link themselves together by taking planned hand or foot holds on the parachutes of other participants.

In the incident, Wiederholt was participating in a diamond-shaped CRW formation when an entanglement occurred. She cut away her main parachute and deployed her reserve, but could not free herself from another jumper’s cut-away main that had become entangled with her foot. She hit the ground at a descent rate about double that of a normal parachute, impacting her back and resulting in a fracture to the bone just above her tailbone (the sacrum).

Emergency personnel initially classified Wiederholt’s condition as critical due to her being disoriented and having low blood pressure. However, further evaluation at the hospital revealed only the single fracture, some neck strain, and bruising. She has since been released from the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.