What do you do when your parachute collapses at 75–100 feet and you hit the ground like you’ve fallen off a 10-story building?

In this episode, Marine reconnaissance officer Ivan F. Ingraham walks through the training accident that almost killed him before he ever stepped into Iraq—and how it reshaped his body, his family life, his career, and his sense of purpose.

In February 2003, during Army Free Fall School in Yuma, Arizona, Ivan was involved in a mid-air collision during a high-altitude, low-opening (HALO) jump. Another jumper’s boots punched through his canopy on final approach. His parachute collapsed, wrapped around the other man’s legs, then slipped free and slung Ivan into the desert on his left side from roughly 75–100 feet.

He woke up trying to stand, with:

A dislocated left hip and fractured pelvis

Three broken ribs

A shattered left arm and wrecked ligaments

Blood pooling in his eyes from goggles smashed into his forehead

Five days in the hospital. Multiple reconstructive surgeries. A year of rehab just to stay in the Marine Corps.

But this isn’t just a story about getting broken. It’s about what he did next:

Fighting to remain a reconnaissance Marine and continue toward MARSOC

Returning to the same free-fall course that almost killed him

Rebuilding his confidence under canopy while knowing exactly what can go wrong

Balancing a dangerous calling with a wife and three kids at home

Redefining “invincibility” as endurance, perseverance, and a sober understanding of mortality

Ivan calls himself “scarred but wiser.” He still carries the physical limits from that day—but he also carries a deeper appreciation for life, family, and what it means not to quit.

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