Woman dies in skydiving incident after 'parachute malfunction' in County Durham
29 April 2025, 11:21 | Updated: 29 April 2025, 11:53
A woman, believed to be in her 30s, has died in a skydiving incident in County Durham.
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Emergency services rushed to Wreford’s Farm in Shotton Colliery, Peterlee, at around 10:30am on Sunday.
The incident is not being treated as suspicious and will now be handed over to the coroner, Durham police said.
A North East Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We were called to an incident at Shotton Colliery in County Durham on Sunday 27 April at 10.17.
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Tragically, last Sunday 27/4/25 a woman lost her life after a parachute incident/accident, please join us in saying a...
Posted by Wrefords' Farm on Tuesday, April 29, 2025
"We dispatched one ambulance crew and one specialist paramedic to the incident."
This marks the third fatal skydiving incident in the Peterlee area in the last nine years.
Sam Cornwell died when his parachute failed to open during a jump at the South West Industrial Estate last year.
He had been working as a videographer for Sky-High Skydiving Peterlee at the time.
In 2016, Pamela Gower, 49, died while taking part in a charity skydive at Peterlee Parachute Centre, the BBC reported at the time.
Wreford's Farm describes itself as a "small, family run farm" which produces pork and beef, according to its website.
A Facebook post from the farm read: "Tragically, last Sunday 27/4/25 a woman lost her life after a parachute incident/accident, please join us in saying a prayer for her and her family, we ask the Lord to accept her into the kingdom of heaven and strength to her family.
"We ask for our own and farms privacy for this deeply upsetting matter to be respected. God bless."
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