A TikTok influencer died while skydiving in Toronto after her spare parachute didn’t have enough time to inflate, according to reports.
Tanya Pardazi, 21, who had more than 100,000 followers on TikTok, died on August 27 during her first solo dive after taking a course with Skydive Toronto.
She had also participated in a previous Miss Canada pageant in which she would have reached the semi-final.
The skydiving facility requires students to take a course in “all the fundamentals needed to successfully complete your first skydive” before making their first jumps from 4,000 feet, according to the website.
The institution confirmed the death of a 21-year-old student in a statement on Facebook, but did not identify Pardazi by name.
The statement said a philosophy student had “dropped a fast-spinning main parachute at low altitude without the time or altitude required for the reserve parachute to inflate.”
“The skydiver has been a welcome recent addition to the skydiving community and will be missed by the student’s new friends and fellow skydives at Skydive Toronto Inc,” the statement added.
“The Skydive Toronto Inc team has been deeply affected by this accident as it has refined its student training program for over 50 years.”
In an Instagram post, the University of Toronto cheerleading team said Ms Pardazi was “one in a million” and would be “a part of our team and in our hearts forever”.
Read more from Sky News:
TikTok star found dead at 19
Friends said she lived her life “to the fullest” and “don’t believe” she died.
Her childhood friend, Melody Ozgoli, told CTV News Toronto, “She really lived every second to the fullest.
“It’s the biggest shock for us. It’s very difficult to deal with. It’s been a few days, but we still don’t believe it.”
