Fallin' short: Bad weather forces skydiver Jay Stokes to stop world-record attempt

When veteran skydiver Jay Stokes set out Friday morning to break his own world record for the number of jumps in 24 hours, it looked like nothing could stop him.

The former Green Beret has the experience: He has skydived for nearly four decades.

He was prepared — spending the past nine months getting ready to break the current world record of 640 jumps in 24 hours, which he set in 2006.

And he had the personal drive and the manpower, including a crew of at least 120 volunteers.

But there was one factor Stokes couldn't control: the weather.

Stokes got started early Friday morning. But about halfway through the attempt, severe thunderstorms had rolled into the area surrounding Frankfort Municipal Airport in Frankfort, Ind., about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis, where Stokes was basing his effort.

Stokes made his last jump, No. 292, at around 9 p.m. Friday, falling short of his goal of 700 jumps in one day.

"It's heartbreaking, because he's trained for so long," said Sharon Dougherty, marketing coordinator for Skydive Indianapolis, the company that organized the record attempt. "A lot of work goes into something like this. It's not something that just happens."

Stokes, 58, made his first jump at 8 a.m. from a Pacific Aerospace P-750 XSTOL airplane flying 2,100 feet above the ground.

Throughout the day, dozens of volunteers came in to help Stokes land and return to the airplane. They also updated his Twitter account, "Most Jumps 2014," as well as Skydive Indianapolis' account on his behalf. Stokes kept landing, time after time, stopping only for occasional health checks.

Stokes was using his record attempt as a fundraising opportunity for charity. Proceeds will go to the Peyton Manning Children's Hospital at St. Vincent and Special Olympics of Indianapolis. Bob Dougherty, owner of Skydiving Indianapolis, said he didn't know at this time how much money has been raised in this effort.

Stokes also took pledges and contributions in 2006 for Special Olympics and the Special Olympics Warrior Foundation, which offers college scholarships to the children of special operations soldiers killed in the line of duty.

Stokes, a resident of Yuma, Ariz., is chairman of the U.S. Parachute Association and a retired member of the Army's Green Berets. He now trains Navy SEALs in military free-fall techniques in San Diego.

Every year, he also travels to Indiana for Skydive Indianapolis' Special Needs Day, a skydiving events where people with disabilities get a chance to jump.

Although Stokes didn't meet his goal, he was able to fundraise for special needs. It's an issue that hits home for Stokes, Dougherty said, since his friend's son, 35-year-old Nick Stokes, has cerebral palsy.

Doughtery has a reason to care about the cause, too: His brother-in-law became a blind paraplegic as the result of a car accident.

"That's all the incentive we need," he said.

Call Star reporter Steph Solis at (317) 444-6494. Follow her on Twitter: @ stephmsolis .