posted Jan 22nd, 2006 - DeLand Fire is dealing with an unfortunate situation for the US national team once again. Natasha Montgomery, DeLand Fire's Point, injured her back due to a landing in rough winds last Tuesday. Fire's January camp in DeLand had to be interrupted since the injury is serious enough to put Natasha Montgomery on a rest for approx. six weeks.

The tough landing on her back caused a compression fracture of her 2nd and 3rd vertebra in the lower part of the spine. Both vertebras are only slightly fractured (10 % and 25%), and Natasha's full recovery is expected within the next six weeks. However, it is a painful injury, and it forces her to reduce any movement to an absolute minimum for a few weeks.

The injury happened three days before Natasha Montgomery's birthday on January 20, and the whole team spent the day at her house instead of training for the World Meet in August. However, DeLand Fire used the down time on Natasha's birthday to cheer her up and make alternate plans for the near future.

The Fire team members do not feel too stressed over the unfortunate situation. They believe that Natasha will recover quickly and then continue where the team had stopped on Tuesday, January 17. Shannon Pilcher explained that Natasha Montgomery is a hard competitor, and she has shown this before:

"She is the first female US 4-way champion in the Open Class and went up against the odds. She has shown several times that she can deal with any obstacles very well. We will continue to improve the team wothout her and might even come out of this stronger than before."

DeLand Fire was already in a very similar situation last year. The NSL News on April 2, 2005 (see Archives) reported that Ian Bobo broke his lower arm during a training jump after colliding with Gary Smith on the completion of Block 8 (Canadian T - Canadian T). The video of this jump is still available on NSL-TV.

DeLand Fire's Tail needed eight weeks to recover from this injury. Thomas Hughes replaced him at the German Nationals 2005, and Fire finished with a 21.2 average in Germany. DeLand Fire trained without Ian Bobo, but the team's original Tail was recovered early enough to compete at the Malevsky Cup 2005.

DeLand Fire won the Malevsky Cup 2005 against strong US and international competition, including the Russian top teams, Team Fastrax, Airspeed Odyssey and Velocity. The DeLand team then moved on to win the USPA Nationals 2005 and qualify as the US national team for the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2006.

Ian Bobo's injury in 2005 did not stop DeLand Fire on its way to the top position in the USA, and the team members remember this very well. Last year's experiences have now become a motivating factor after Natasha Montgomery's recent injury.

The same alternate as in 2005 is also available once again. Thomas Hughes is already very familiar with both DeLand Fire's front and rear piece after training and competing with the team several times last year. The US national 4-way team has not finally determined an alternate for the 2006 line-up yet. However, Thomas Hughes is probably the best candidate.

He just came back to DeLand from his first 8-way training with Arizona Airspeed on Friday. DeLand Fire allowed him one day of rest after ten training days and 70 jumps before he was back in the air with 4-way training in Natasha Montgomery's slot. Thomas Hughes confirmed that Airspeed would allow him to be the official alternate at the World Meet this year.

It will still be a difficult situation for DeLand Fire until Natasha Montgomery will be fully recovered and back in her slot for the team. Thomas Hughes has to be available for the Airspeed training primarily. He can only use his off-time to fill in for Fire. The DeLand team might still have to look for other alternates whenever Thomas is busy. In any way, either Airspeed or/and DeLand Fire, Thomas Hughes still needs approval from USPA for his slot in a US team.

The NSL News will follow up on the DeLand Fire situation and wishes Natasha Montgomery a quick recovery.