U.S. Army Golden Knight Injured in Chicago Air Show Accident Has Died

The U.S. Army parachuter severely injured in a Chicago Air and Water Show jump Saturday died on Sunday, the Army announced.

Sgt. First Class Corey Hood — who served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan — was 32. The Cincinnati native logged more than 500 jumps as a member of the famed Golden Knights, the Army’s precision parachute jump team.

Hood was married, according to a spokesperson for the Golden Knights. He joined the Army in 2001 after graduating high school and during his career was awarded two Bronze Stars, two Meritorious Service Medals, five Army Commendation Medals, five Army Achievement Awards, Master Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge and the Combat Action Badge.

Sgt. First Class Corey Hood (top) in a photo
posted to Instagram by a friend.

Hood underwent surgery Saturday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital to relieve pressure on his brain after colliding with another jumper at the air show. He was knocked unconscious and fell onto a Chicago building along the lakefront in the opening hour of the air show.

Hood was performing a “bomb burst,” a maneuver in which the parachute jumpers circle one another and come together into a formation, then burst apart while trailing red smoke as they descend. Hood and another jumper, a U.S. Navy Leap Frog team member, collided.

The Navy jumper landed on North Street beach and sustained a broken leg.

The Cook County Medical Examine confirmed that Hood died at 4:10 p.m. Sunday. He is survived by his wife, Lyndsay, according to the Army.

VIDEO: Corey Hood in a 2014 interview