- Home
- News
- Opinion
- Letters
- Sports
- Prospecting
- Essentials
- Obituaries
- Real Estate
- Comics
- Gallery
- Classifieds
- Advertisers
- Coupons
- Contact Us
Share Article
528
805528805
The story of the four skydiving divas, including local resident Eileen Samboceti, has apparently caught the eye of the national media and an interview featuring all of them will be aired later this year on a show called “Caught on Camera” on MSNBC.
The four women shared a hair-raising adventure last year when they went skydiving and one of them almost fell to her death. The video of her skydive was subsequently posted on the Internet and has since grabbed the attention of different media outlets.
On June 26 the women met in Camino with a film crew from the show to record the interview.
The skydiving divas include Samboceti, her granddaughter, Alissa Withrow, her son’s girlfriend, Karen Boyer, and a then 80-year-old friend named Laverne Everett, who all went skydiving last May at the Parachute Center in Lotus.
Everything appeared to be going fine until Everett slipped out of her harness as she and her tandem partner jumped from the plane. Apparently the harness wasn’t cinched tightly enough at the shoulder.
While they were falling, the video photographer and Everett’s tandem partner both pushed on her feet to keep her from slipping entirely out of the harness. With her partner hanging on to Everett for dear life and with Everett holding on in turn, the two were able to descend to the ground safely and land with only a few scratches and bruises.
Samboceti said part of the interview consisted of the women watching the video of Everett’s jump and commenting on it. ”I was surprised by how Laverne didn’t grasp what was happening to her with her clothing flying up over her head and all.”
Kathy Withrow, Samboceti’s daughter, was also at the interview. “Everett’s tandem jumper was so spent that when they first landed on the ground, he passed out briefly. He was crying and traumatized by what happened,” she said.
Since the jump, Everett has had lunch with her tandem jumper and he told her “I couldn’t have held you another minute. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
According to Samboceti, the interview will be featured on the Sunday evening show in October or November.
Contact Dawn Hodson at 530-344-5071 or dhodson@mtdemocrat.net. Follow @DHodsonMtDemo on Twitter.
The Mountain Democrat does not necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy
Paula NelsonJuly 04, 2012 - 10:55 am
You GO Eileene and Friends. We're cheering for you from Montana!