Pregnant BASE jumper plunges to her death in Switzerland after vowing to quit

GlobalPost

A pregnant BASE jumper who vowed to stop after one last leap plunged 1,000 feet to her death in the Lauterbrunnen valley near Stechelberg, Switzerland.

Wioletta Roslan, 37, was four months pregnant and undertaking one last jump with partner Aleksander Domalewski, the Daily Mail reported.

Upon falling pregnant, she had reportedly vowed to give up an extreme sport she loved since taking up skydiving at 19 — after one last visit to her favorite BASE (Buildings, Antennas, Spans and Earth) jumping spot, the Via Ferrata in the Swiss mountains.

The site's spectacular scenery inspired Tolkien to create Rivendell in his book "The Lord of the Rings," according to The Sun.

Domalewski reportedly watched as Roslan desperately tried to get her parachute to open; she failed, plummeting to the ground and dying instantly.

According to KvallsPosten, Roslan's mother, Halina Zaniewska-Pettersson, said she had begged her not to take the last leap.

"When she said she was going to do one last jump while pregnant I begged her not to go," she said.

"I was always terrified … I kept expecting the worst … she didn't listen and now it's too late."

The Sun reported that Roslan was a professional BASE jumper who had performed hundreds of jumps across Europe and in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and the US.

She had also taken to "wing walking," where a person is strapped to the wings of a biplane. 

The paper quoted her as saying in a 2009 interview in Malaysia that:

"Even if the things l enjoy doing may be seen as high and scary, I love it. Every level of height gives a different kind of excitement to jumpers. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the wingsuit flying I did in Switzerland — it made me feel like I was flying with wings attached to me."

When not chasing adventure, she was an inspector working on oil rigs.

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