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Laurie Sams - Australia

Laurie "truck" Sams has had a long and distinguished skydiving career.  ‘truck’ made his first jump in 1968 as a member of the SAS. During 1970 - 1971, he did a tour of active duty with the SAS in South Vietnam and was awarded the Active Service Medal Vietnam, The Vietnam Medal, the Defense Forces Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Infantry Combat Badge. He was twice awarded the Australia Day Sporting Medal (1986 and 1987) and honored with the Australian Sports Medal in 2001 for his contributions to sport parachuting on an international level. Sadly, truck's personal jumping career was cut short due to tandem accident in 1995, with a main and reserve entanglement. Descending under a partial reserve, Laurie told his student (Troy Anderson) to adopt a fetal position and absorbed the landing himself. This resulted in Truck's left leg being amputated below the knee and damage to his right leg; this stopped him from jumping. In 2001, he was awarded the Star of Courage on Queen Elizabeth II’s honour list for his bravery saving the student’s life. In 2009 he was inducted into the Golden Knights’ Hall of Fame as an Honorary Golden Knight. Truck has multiple international accuracy medals. In 1981 he won the Australian National Parachuting Accuracy Championship by scoring eighteen DCs, a record that stands today.

 

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