(Photo by Volker Haag)
WATSONVILLE — A Turkish man who has been confined to a wheelchair for much of his life, and who relies on others for many of his needs, has taken a significant leap in life.
For Muratcan Çiçek, that took the form of a skydiving trip from 12,500 feet above Watsonville Municipal Airport.
Çiçek, 24, was born in a small town in Turkey, and lost his father when he was 9.
He has cerebral palsy, and therefore cannot walk and do many of the things others take for granted. He also has a difficult time talking and using his hands.
Still, he is in the midst of his Ph.D. studies in computer science at UC Santa Cruz, which he describes as “a quite long and some kind of boring process.”
Çiçek said that his father never had the economic means to achieve his dreams, such as owning a truck or a boat, and traveling.
Çiçek’s disability, he said, is the only thing holding him back from achieving his own dreams, which have variously included snowboarding, skateboarding and bicycling on rooftops.
While those are out of reach, he knew that skydiving was possible, once he found a professional company to take him.
“I need to have fun and I love to push myself to the limit for fun and beyond my disability,” he wrote by email. “One of my biggest dreams was skydiving since my childhood and I think it’s time to do that.”
To do that, Çiçek called Skydive Surfcity in Watsonville. There, he took a tandem jump on Friday, during which the student is latched onto the front of an experienced master.
Once he and company owner Volker Haag jumped, they experienced a 60-second freefall – at speeds well in excess of 100 miles per hour – before opening the parachute and gliding gently to earth.
Before he took the leap, Çiçek said Haag’s professionalism helped allay his fear.
“He (makes) you so comfortable, so relaxed, that you cannot be worried at all, you can only enjoy your jump,” he said.
Buoyed by the success of his inaugural leap from an airplane, he eventually plans to take a solo leap, with the help of technology.
Çiçek also hopes to take an ocean adventure.
“I decided to push the limits and fight my disability in extraordinary fields like skydiving, scuba diving and the things you cannot even imagine,” he said.
Haag, who has more than 10,000 skydives under his belt, said his jump with Çiçek was one of his favorites.
“‘…One might think, ‘I have seen it all’ and one jump might sometimes fade into the next,” he said. “Seeing and feeling Muratcan’s excitement, his absolute determination and lack of fear, was so special and humbling to me that this jump will stand out among my over 10,000 skydives forever. It was truly special.”
Haag tipped his hat to Watsonville Airport administration for allowing parachutists to land at the airport, despite pushback from a small group of pilots.
Çiçek has gained a fair amount of celebrity in his home country for achieving his academic success despite having cerebral palsy.
He is the first student from Turkey to receive a prestigious scholarship from Google for people with disabilities.
His mother taught him to read and do math at home after every school he applied to rejected him. He taught himself English and Spanish, and several computer languages.
His mother then accompanied him to Özyegin University, where he graduated at the top of his class in computer science. She is again with him as he works his way through his Ph.D. studies.
Çiçek is currently designing software to make life easier for people with disabilities.
Despite his success, Çiçek rejects the notion that he is doing anything special.
“The truth is that I am not the hero of this story,” he said. “The real hero is my mom.”
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To see Çiçek’s adventure, visit tinyurl.com/y9sw7oh2.
