A Base jumper, John Agnos, 41 years old, to celebration his birthday, jumped from 2,000 feet from a television tower, south of Sacramento, California, and got hung up Yestarday night in the guy wires of the Walnut Grove communication towers. They are the towers that are easily visible from the Lodi Parachute Center. Go to www.kcra.com To listen to the 911 tapes. Click on "Risky Rescue." It's quite interesting.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- From his hospital bed Friday, the daredevil who had viewers hanging on the edge of their seats the night before spoke to KCRA 3 about his bungled base-jump from the top of a 2,000-foot television tower south of Sacramento.
John Agnos, 41, said that his base-jumping days may be over after his illegal base jump went wrong when his parachute spun out of control. For five hours, he hung from a twisted cobweb of wires as firefighters tried to reach him.
"I was hoping it didn't cut loose because I would have fell to my death right there," Agnos said. "I thought I was going to die at that point. I was pretty sure I was. It's not something you expect as a base-jumper, but you deal with it because it's part of the sport."
Agno's 911 calls captured Thursday night's high drama. From his cell phone, the jumper led emergency teams to his location. On the ground, crews worked feverishly to devise a rescue plan. It was Sacramento city firefighter John Clark who shimmied his way up the guide wire before he lowered the jumper to safety. "The first 10 or 20 feet are shocking. Then, once you're up there, you just kind of stop thinking about it," Clark said.
Battered and bruised, Agnos said he will recover. His injuries are minor, but it's not his first time in a hospital bed. The seasoned base-jumper has steel rods in his back from a Las Vegas jump that went wrong.
Agnos claims Friday night's jump was his last. "I've pushed long and hard, and stuff happens in this sport. And it's happened to me twice now," Agnos said.
Agnos has already been written a trespassing ticket. He could also be held financially responsible for the rescue effort. That bill would easily be in the thousands of dollars, according to officials.
