The Daredevil Evangelist Who Fell From the Heavens

A self-taught escape artist from small-town Wisconsin delivers death-defying skydives that double as warnings against humanity’s cavalier path toward hell.

Illustration by Marco Gallo

After hurling themselves out of an airplane, skydivers over northern Illinois can generally enjoy one minute of free fall while the heavens open up, revealing sublime views of Midwestern farmland intricately stitched together like a grandmother’s patchwork quilting.

But while plummeting through the sky over America’s heartland in 2013, Anthony Martin’s circumstances were different. For one thing, he didn’t jump from the plane – he was sucked out of its cargo bay. And those exalted views from 14,000 feet didn’t matter while he was falling to earth locked inside of a dark wooden box the size of a coffin.

As he cascaded towards imminent death at 200 feet per second, Martin’s utmost priority was unlocking the shackles that bound his right hand to the side of the coffin. Without this dexterity, he couldn’t then break through the additional layer of tight, metal cuffs that cut into his circulation and locked his hands beside his waist. And then, of course, there was…