PUEBLO – A skydiver who calls Pueblo home is reaching out for help. Someone broke into his car last week and stole his backpack with something inside that can’t be replaced; his log book.
Rodney Reed is so passionate about it that he’s training to become a jumpmaster. That certification would enable him to work as an instructor.
“If I can make a living jumping out of airplanes, I mean, that’s the kind of living to make,” he said.
It’s a passion he only recently discovered. Years ago, Rodney owned a successful welding business. But then he was diagnosed with cancer.
“I’m a two-time cancer survivor, I had a full frontal craniotomy to remove a tumor from my brain in 2001,” Reed explained.
His health insurance policy reached its lifetime limit. At the time, Rodney couldn’t apply for another policy due to his pre-existing condition. Meanwhile, the federal government determined he owned too many assets much to qualify for Medicaid.
“Piece by piece we sold our lives that we spent ten years building, all to keep me alive.”
He recovered from both cancer diagnoses and gained a new perspective on what it means to live.
“My wife and I decided that we weren’t going to spend the rest of our lives acquiring stuff that we didn’t really need and that we were going to move to Colorado, see some mountains and have some fun.”
Which is why the stolen log book is so precious to him. It not only contains a record of the jumps he needs to apply for higher licenses but also words of encouragement written by a skydiving friend who died two years ago.
“This book contained some logs from a mentor, and a coach and a teacher who was above all things than that, he was my friend.”
Reed posted about the theft on social media and said the response was overwhelmingly supportive.
Total strangers sent him messages of encouragement. Others are actively looking for the missing backpack.
Reed hopes by sharing his story, it might encourage whoever has the book to return it.
“The only thing that matters to me is the book,” he said. “The monetary value of the altimeter and the GoPro stuff, I can replace all that.”
Reed said he wrote his name, phone number and email address in the log book. He doesn’t have much money but is willing to pay $100 cash reward to get it back.
