"The Skydiving Surgeon"

Chances are if you're going to be skydiving out of Laurel Airport with Gordon Riner and his "Parachutes are Fun," you're going to be crammed into a Cessna 182 with the pilot, two skydivers and perhaps a curious observer huddled behind the pilot's seat.

The pilot will take the single-engine Cessna to 10,000 feet among the clouds and blue sky. The door opens, the skydivers are out on the step and suddenly there is a "whoosh" as they each hurtle into space.

John Spieker, M.D. had been on the airplane's step, but now he is falling through the cold sky, kept warm by his blue flight suit tightly fitted over a "scuba suit." The helmeted Spieker will be trying out a brand new parachute and will not drop the usual 7500 feet before opening the chute. Instead, he'll open at 5000 feet.

John Spieker, M.D., doesn't back away from challenges, whether it be as an orthopedic surgeon at Beebe Medical Center or in his avocation as a skydiver through the skies of Sussex County.

In a perfect blending, a marriage if you will, Dr. Spieker has combined his two great passions of medicine and a thrilling hobby.

Gordon Riner, a 72-year-old skydiving instructor from Millsboro, Delaware, and Dr. Spieker, a 42- year-old native of New Milford, New Jersey, and current resident of Milton, Delaware, found each other in the fall of 1994 when Riner was in need of Dr. Spieker's orthopedic skills to replace a deteriorating hip. In return, Riner introduced Dr. Spieker to the hobby of skydiving.

There is a visible tension which prevails before a takeoff on a skydiving run. Just the thought of a Cessna getting off the ground, with four passengers stuffed in like sardines, races the heart. Dr. Spieker, normally a talkative fellow, is strangely quiet before his jump. He admits to nervousness, perhaps because he is using a new chute; but once the door opens and he's out on the step, all of the nervousness is gone. There is only the concentration of clearing the plane and then the free-fall.

Slight winds under 20 miles per hour are best. Skydivers only speak in terms of altitude, because if there is trouble, obviously the number of feet you are above the target, in this case the grass runway of Laurel Airport, is crucial. Chutes can be hand controlled and students have the luxury of walkie-talkie contact with their instructors, who normally are on the ground.

Dr. Spieker claims that 13,000 feet is the outside jump limit with Gordon Riner at Laurel Airport. He envisions a trip to Florida where he can jump with the former world and national champion Jerry Bird and learn more sophisticated jumping skills.

Dr. Spieker's career choice and hobby activity is probably not unusual considering his background. he was a half-miler and high jumper in high school track, as well as a decathlon athlete. An injured knee required several operations in high school and college. A broken ankle necessitated ankle reconstruction after his collegiate intermediate hurdling career. An automobile accident in 1977 brought about a fractured pelvis and interrupted any further Olympic training.

Dr. Spieker's orthopedic specialties include fractures, sports medicine, and reconstructing total joints. He frequently finds himself in the Beebe Medical Center's Emergency Room where broken bones and other orthopedic injuries are common.

Dr. Spieker also finds that he becomes very close to his patients. The relationship with Gordon Riner was a natural follow-up. Before starting his parachuting school, Riner worked for 34 years with national Cash Register. The soft-spoken Riner teaches skydiving and jumps himself when he's not piloting the Cessna. After four months of therapy following his right hip replacement, he returned to flying and jumping, along with three miles a day of walking for exercise.

Riner says that Dr. Spieker was an excellent student and took to jumping like a "duck to water." To describe skydiving, Riner says he refers to Lewis Carroll of Alice and Wonderland fame. "It's like falling down a rabbit hole into the magical kingdom of the sky." Dr. Spieker is equally descriptive. "It's like no other feeling. When I jump, it's into my own world."

Before his surgery by Dr. Spieker, Riner suffered with osteoarthritis. He couldn't sit, drive or walk around. He had to kneel to eat. He was referred to Dr. Spieker. The rest is rather pleasant history. Dr. Spieker realized that medications couldn't help Riner live a normal life, much less parachute at work. It was "go" in February of 1995. Four months later, Riner literally jumped back into his job at "Parachutes Are Fun."

But during all of this Dr. Spieker got the bug. He had jumped before, but not free-fall, while a college student at Rutgers University in New Jersey. But this was the real thing and Riner was the perfect instructor. It is not inexpensive to become a qualified skydiver, but it fit in with Dr. Spieker's other hobbies of indoor rock climbing, weight lifting and motorcycling.

When asked if she was a skydiver, Dr. Spieker's wife Kerry said, "Are you kidding? I don't like to look out of second-story windows." But she is very supportive; Kerry has been to Laurel Airport to observe . Dr. Spieker calls Kerry immediately after each jumping session.

This particular jump was Dr. Spieker's thirty-ninth. There is also a contagion to the sport, and Dr. Spieker has formed the skydiving "Beebe Bombers" to include Dr. Steve Berlin, OB/GYN; Dr. Srihari Peri, oncology; and Dr. Pedro Cardona, pulmonologist. They have all been out to the drop zone and have each logged a first jump.

Dr. Spieker has a Masters Degree in Organic Chemistry from Columbia University, but it was surgery that always captivated him. His medical training was complete by 1986. Dr. Spieker joined a practice in Dover until Beebe Medical Center called in 1990.

Dr. Spieker has a satellite office in Milford. He operates solely at Beebe and is very excited about the new clinical building with its state-of-the-art surgical theaters.

Dr. Spieker also has a natural interest in sports medicine and writes a highly informative column for the Delaware Coast Press. Kerry and John have three children: Caitlin, Courtney and Brooke.

And thanks to Dr. John Spieker, you can find Gordon Riner flying at Laurel Airport and enjoying life with his wife of 43 years.

NOTE: This is a reprint of the article written by Phil Burke, that appeared in the Winter 1996 issue of The Beacon, a magazine of health information published by Beebe Medical Center.