Skydiving Accident- Big Owie!

2001. I was at a company weekend at a KOA in Sonoma, CA. Found out a small airport was adjacent offering skydiving. I was 51 at the time. I jumped 38 times at the age of 29 but not since. So rather than go through 8 hours of training to do a static line jump, I did a tandem.
The schmuck that was my man bragged about how many thousands of jumps he had done.. Yeah, yeah.
We jump from 19,000 feet.
Around 7,000 feet we pull the rip cord. My head flies back and clocks him in the jaw and knocks him out. So instead of floating down like a butterfly and coming to the ground on tippy toes, he drove me into the ground at 35mph...and no helmet for me because it would look better in the video.
When I woke up, everything was broken.
Didn't walk again until 2003. Didn't work again until 2005.
Never had any surgery. Those damn orthopods would see me for 5 minutes and rub their greedy hands together. I refused all surgery. So instead, I sought out pain management.
Now that I'm an old fart, the pain is off the scale.
Had my first MRI's today in 7 years.
Lots of herniated discs and lots of other problems.
I sort of knew that because the pain had to come from somewhere. But I lost my job in Dec 2008 and haven't worked since. I'm a structural engineer in commercial construction. No one is hiring guys my age.
I qualified for Medicaid two weeks ago.
My wife and I live in my daughter's basement.
I used to buy lots of cigars. No more. A small budget per month. I cherish all of them.
I'm still not going to have surgery. When I'm crippled and can't walk, maybe then.
Back pain is a *****. Just wondered if I could hear other horror stories about human structural destruction.