Meet Tandem BASE Jump Winner (and Bride-to-be) Erika Terranova

Last month, you selected our Bridge Day 2012 Tandem BASE Jump Contest winner. Erika Terranova will be taking more than one plunge on October 20. Before she hops off the Bridge with her tandem BASE partner, she’ll tie the knot with skydiving fiance Patrick. We thought you’d like to learn more about Erika. Heck, we were intrigued ourselves. How many brides do you know that are willing to plummet 876 feet towards a rushing river immediately following their wedding? Read on...

Bridge Day: Where are you from?

Erika: My fiancée and I are both from Lockport, NY 

Bridge Day: How did you hear about the tandem BASE jump contest?

Erika: After we had made the decision to get married at Bridge Day we saw the contest posted on Facebook. We both follow Bridge Day on Facebook and knew we could make a unique video so we decided to enter the contest.

Bridge Day: Tell us more about you and your fiance. How did you meet?

Erika: We met through a mutual friend at her birthday party. We have been inseparable since that day!

Patrick had been skydiving for a few years before we met. Eventually he talked me into doing a tandem skydive and I loved it! Shortly after my first jump I started training for my skydiving license but was forced to take a hiatus for the birth of our daughter. There are 3 children in our family: Kaleb is 7, Trent is 3, and our beautiful baby girl is 6 months old!

Bridge Day: How did you decide that a Bridge Day BASE jump wedding was your dream?

Erika: We had planned on doing a skydiving wedding but did not want to wait until I had made enough skydives to jump on my own. I came up with the idea to have the wedding at Bridge Day and Patrick contacted Jason at Vertical Visions to get approval, and the rest is history. 

Bridge Day: Tell us about your charity and why you’re supporting it.

Erika: My charity is Mental Health America. The MHA started back in 1909 and are the leading advocacy organization addressing the full spectrum of mental and substance use conditions and their effects nationwide. They work to inform, advocate, and enable access to quality behavioral health services for all Americans. 

I chose Mental Health America because I have seen first hand how mental illness and substance abuse affect the quality of life. I have watched friends and family struggle with both issues, I also have lost friends and family members to mental illness and substance issues. People tend to lose hope and think that their life will never be what they want. I want people to know there is help and life can be lived to the fullest!

Bridge Day: What will you wear?

Erika: We will wear matching “Bride” and “Groom” hoodies. 

Bridge Day: Where’s the honeymoon?

Erika: Neither of us are in a hurry to leave our 6 month old daughter for a honeymoon right away. So we have decided to postpone the honeymoon until after our family reception that will take place in the summer. The honeymoon is still in the planning stage but we want to go somewhere warm with skydiving!

If you missed seeing Erika’s winning video, never fear. You can watch it now.

After their jump, Erika and Patrick will head back up to the Bridge to the Subaru Igloo. There, Subaru will host a reception for them, complete with cake! Stop by in the morning for your chance to meet the lucky couple.

Will we see you there?