How high of a jump is fatal?

well nothing is set on stone but i have a friend who works in an emergancy room and he told me the story of this women who tried to commit suicide by jumping of a four or five story building (it could be 3 i forgets =p) anyway she landed on her legs and didn't die. instead the force of the land caused her legs to shoot up her body, so that her torso was litterally at her knees... how she survived the fall with those injures no one knows... i never did find out if she survived the surgery, i doubt it though... anyway 35 feet is what? 3-4 stories? in that case, yes i would guess that he would likely die, but like i said there is a chance of survivng... though not without massive injury, at that hieght I would say even if he survived the fall i'm not sure if he'd survive the injuries.

Hmmm........thank you for the info. Now to rethink that particular scene. Also, it would appear that we are both behind each other. Hehehe.

www.the39clues.com

I think pretty much anything can happen. I saw an episode of "Max X" where a coked up guy leapt off a 5th story balcony onto the street. He then sprang to he feet and ran away.

I've also heard of people surviving failure of parachutes.

Basically I think whatever needs to happen for your plot can happen.

if we're both behind each other would that mean we are walking in circles? xDDD lolz and no problem
if you lower the altitude from 35 to like 20 he has a much higher chance of surviving (if that's what you want) or make it higher if you want instant death or if you want to keep the height but have him live, either a) have him get really really hurt but parametics come fast so he lives, or b) use the age old i'm gonna jump... *splash* wtf when did this pool get here? xDD but then again i have no idea what the scene is so if it was an accidental push... or if he's in like a tree or something then it would be different xDD

No, no, the character is willingly jumping off of a school. Maybe twenty-five feet would work.....

www.the39clues.com

If it's willingly, then surely he can at least make sure he's not jumping onto stone?

Usually, at least 6-stories is required. Unless your character is one of those crazy amazing parkour people, in which case he is immortal.

Another thing that could help your character survive is if he (a) knew martial arts or gymnastics enough to be a natural at landing in a way so that he wouldn't get hurt - he could just do it automatically if he was trying to kill himself or (b) had consumed drugs or alcohol shortly prior to jumping - this could result in all the muscles in his body being so relaxed he was hurt much less.

It is possible to survive a fall from that high - my friend's boyfriend accidentally a soda dosed with a date-rape drug, and afterwards he walked off the fifth story of a parking garage. He is still in the hospital a month and a half later because he suffered over a dozen broken bones, but the doctors think that two factors saved him - one was that he was a serious football player who had a lot of muscle mass to pad his landing, and the other was the drug itself, which prevented him from tensing any as he fell.

It also depends what he lands on.

I read the story of a woman who fell from a plane (with no parachute). She fell to the ground and actually survived, because she landed on a tall hill and ended up rolling down the majority of the way before she came to a halt, reducing her kinetic energy. I think she didn't even get serious injured - it was pretty damn lucky. xD

Maybe have your character land in something? Like... A bin? xD

I agree that it depends how the person lands as to whether or not you are likely to survive - I've remember an Airborne guy telling me once that it's best to fall feet-first from a big height, because your legs act as a "crumple zone" (his words) - if you land on your head or your spine the wrong way...you're in deep trouble.

Also, it can depend on what they are wearing, and wind conditions. People have freakily survived high falls or jumps by both these things. A woman from a previous century in a crinoline skirt springs to mind, by I very much doubt your chap would wear that!! But maybe a long full coat that balloons out, if he's into interesting goth type fashions? The freak winds are more common on very high buildings, skyscrapers or bridges, but they have been known to blow people onto ledges, or even right back where they came from!

If he landed on an unfortunate passer-by then he might survive at their expense!

Yes the pic is a stavechurch, in case anyone wondered!

I think I heard somewhere that if you jump out of anything higher than a 2nd story window, you have a 50% chance of dying. So I would pretty much expect there to be broken bones, but you could probably survive?

The safest way would probably be foot-first, but then one/both legs would be broken.