The Success Design welcomes John Martin who is a small plane crash survivor and has lived to tell about the ordeal.  Having obtained his pilot’s license at an early age in New Zealand, John’s small aircraft went down when he was twenty-six-years-old.  He received burns over approximately 70% of his body.

John Martin

Here’s a synopsis of our interview:
John Martin lives life to the fullest. He always has. During our interview we discussed his beautiful country of New Zealand and all the it has to offer by way of nature.  John introduced himself and spoke about several topics.  I brought up that he was the first base jumper in New Zealand and he had a funny anecdote to tell about that.  Then, we discussed the plane crash that caused burns over 70% of his body.  John didn’t speak much of his ordeal except to say that he knew that it wasn’t going to keep him down.  He was out of the hospital within a year and immediately returned to flying.  John spoke of the strength he had to overcome any desire for self-pity.  John has written two works about his ordeal: one short story named Out of the Ashes  and a book called Just Shut Up and Jump.  More writing is in John’s future as it is his newly discovered passion.

Biography:
New Zealand’s John Martin has always lived life on the edge.  At age 13, he biked around New Zealand’s East Cape.  At age 16, he made his first parachute jump.  At age 18, he purchased his first aircraft and learned to fly.  At age 21, he made New Zealand’s first base jump and at 24 years old he obtained his commercial pilot’s licence.

At age 26, he received burns to 70% of his body, face and hands when his crop dusting aircraft crashed and burned. He spent the next three months in intensive care in an induced coma, and underwent numerous medical procedures including skin grafting, debriding and reconstructive surgery. Within a year he returned to flying. He entered a partnership and purchased a branch of the company he previously worked for, providing the flying service to Motiti Island. A year later he set up his own Tandem Skydiving business which he still runs today.

In quieter times John spends time cruising around the Coromandel Coast on his yacht where he continues to explore his new found passion for writing. His first book, a short story called “Out of the Ashes” was used by several schools as a study aid and saw John listed with Celebrity Speakers NZ as a motivational speaker.  John’s story “Just Shut Up and Jump” is not of one of self pity but a testament as to what a positive approach and never say die attitude can achieve.

Websites:
Click Here to Listen to Our Radio Show Interview
John Martin’s Website