Hartsock was the instructor paired with Shirley Dygert for her first ever skydive—a challenge she undertook to celebrate her 54th birthday. But the jump took a nightmarish turn when their first parachute failed to fully deploy and the backup chute got tangled up along with it.

As they were plummeting toward the Earth at 40mph, Hartsock pulled the chutes' control handles to position himself underneath Dygert, hoping to break her fall when they hit the ground. His plan worked: Dygert walked away with only minor injuries, though Hartsock himself was left paralyzed.
http://gizmodo.com/5536500/heroic-skydiver-saves-womans-life-after-parachute-failure