Freddy Chase was a month away from proposing to his professional skydiver girlfriend when she was killed during a freak tandem skydiving accident.
"This was the poetic part of me and her: she was already engaged to me the second we met. But, popping the question was going to be next month in Hawaii," Chase explained to HNGN in an interview Thursday.
Chase's longtime love, Devrey LaRiccia, 28, conducted several routine tandem skydives earlier in her shift as a skydiving intructor Friday. But things turned fatal during her last jump of the day. She and a student reportedly encountered two unexpected dust devils as they made their descent into Perris, California. Chase said Devrey managed to maneuver around the first one, but the second dust devil was invisible and sent the victims plummeting to their deaths.
"With a gust of wind at 30 feet, there's nothing you can do. It's like a car crash that comes out of nowhere," said Chase. "It just happens."
Chase understands the dangers of skydiving. It's how he and Devrey met six years ago at her work, Skydive Perris, in southern California, and they bonded over their shared passion for the daredevil sport, ever since. But it was her beauty and graciousness that caused him to quickly grow enamored with Devrey, and he knew she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
"I know it's cliche, but it was love at first sight. Immediately, we started falling in love with each other," he recalled. "Every time I looked into that woman's eyes, I knew it was going to be forever."
"And the pain that I'm feeling now is unbearable. I can't describe it, and it's just because that's how much we equally loved each other."
Marriage was always on the table. More than five years after they made their relationship official, Chase was planning an elaborate proposal for September during a Hawaiian getaway. He was prepared to get down on one knee with the exact salt and pepper diamond engagement ring she had been eyeing.
"She deserved an amazing proposal and an amazing wedding, and I was trying to get my ducks in a row to make sure I could provide for her, like the man she deserved to have," he said.
But the tragedy now means Devrey will never get to meet Chase at the altar. For hours, doctors kept her on life support so he could say goodbye at the hospital.
"The doctor let me back into her room, where I was able to lay with her for two hours, and hold her, and brush her hair, and give her thousands of kisses, and tell her how much I loved her. And that she was too perfect for this world, and she was just brought to heaven because this world didn't deserve her."
"I kissed her on her lips, and I told her this will forever be the hardest thing I'll ever have to do in my life," recalled Chase. "Part of me died right there. I just lost the love of my life. I lost the most perfect person I have ever encountered."
Despite her passing, Chase still plans to ask Devrey to marry him.
"I've gotten the approval from her parents. Before we lay her to rest, I'm allowed to put the ring on her wedding finger," he cried.
As he continues to process and heal from the heartbreaking trauma, Chase admitted he will be taking a break from skydiving. But he promises to be jumping out of airplanes sometime in the future.
"If I didn't start skydiving, I never would have found her," he said. "It probably won't be soon. It'll be when she knows I'm ready, and when I know I'm ready, but I'll probably go again and continue to jump in her name."
