A father from Australia recently died in a tragic skydiving accident, leaving behind a wife and six children. Rodger Goltz, 48, was on an adventure with his 18-year-old son on August 17 when the accident occurred. Goltz jumped from the plane and his parachute opened, but it appears the wind took hold of the father and put him in a dangerous landing position.
Goltz was reportedly a seasoned skydiver, and loved ones never expected him to die in such a horrific way. His family is now struggling to recover from both the emotional and financial devastation of losing a man they loved so dearly and grappling with how this could have happened.
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Goltz had skydived dozens of times in the past.
Goltz lived in Jervis Bay and was completing his 77th skydiving mission when the accident occurred in New South Wales, ABC News Australia reported. Phil Goltz told the news outlet that his younger brother didn't have time to correct his parachute after a "last-minute" change in wind conditions. He was airlifted to Canberra Hospital, where he died the following day from a head injury.
The father's death came as a shock to his family.
Phil Goltz called his brother a "generous man" with a sense of adventure. He loved being with his family, and the loss has blindsided his wife, children, and siblings.
"It's not supposed to be this way. The youngest isn't supposed to go before the rest of us," he said.
Skydiving death is not covered by insurance.
According to his brother, Goltz was unaware that his life insurance policy did not cover accidental death during skydiving. This has left the family financially desperate.
"When you look through the clauses, it's one of those precluded activities. We only realised afterwards. It's another shock," Phil Goltz explained.
He added that his sister-in-law and her children may lose their home and are desperately trying to figure out what to do and where to go.
"They don't want to move out of the house because that's where Dad was," he shared.
Loved ones hope to financially support the widow and her children.
Alaska Turner created a GoFundMe account for the Goltz family. Turner asked loved ones to help support the grieving mother and her children.
"This fund is being created to help Kelly, his children and the rest of his family through this tough time. Unfortunately due to the nature of the incident they are unable to collect any insurances to help save their family home. As you can imagine this a big weight families heart and without your help they will [lose] their family home," she wrote.
The fundraiser has brought in about $26,000 of a $200,000 goal thus far.
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Goltz's death is under investigation.
The Australian Parachute Federation and the Moruya-based company Skydive OZ released a statement about the crash obtained by ABC News Australia. The organization said the accident is under investigation.
"It is still too early to understand exactly what caused the incident, but we know that while the parachute opened and functioned normally, he experienced a heavy landing and sustained multiple injuries," Skydive Oz chief instructor Paul Smith said.
