SLUHN Physician Pursues Skydiving World Record

When he isn’t taking care of patients at St. Luke’s Walbert Avenue Primary Care in Allentown, Dr. Frank Matrone enjoys jumping out of airplanes.

Next week he hopes to secure a new spot in the skydiving record books.

Dr. Matrone and his son, Dominic, will fly to Lake Wales, Fla., on Friday to begin final preparations for a global canopy formation skydiving world-record attempt next week. Skydivers from 19 countries will team with the Matrones to try to complete a parachute formation of 107-plus skydivers.

Dr. Matrone is part of the current global canopy formation record of 100 skydivers. That record was set in 2007, when Dominic was 9 years old.

Dr. Matrone is one of 25 people from the 2007 team returning to try to establish a new mark. For someone who started skydiving as a 17-year-old in the late 1970s in Hazleton, this could be his last chance to participate in a record leap.

“As soon as we leave the airplane, we open our parachutes,” Dr. Matrone said of how canopy formation skydiving works. “We fly our parachutes together to make formations. So, it’s a different aspect of the sport.

“A lot of my freefall friends won’t get close to it. They don’t like to get close to another canopy.”

Born and raised in Hazelton, PA, Dr. Matrone has been a family physician at St. Luke’s since 2010. He credits skydiving with teaching him how to stay calm under pressure, communicate clearly and solve problems—skills he brings to every patient interaction.

Dr. Matrone said the group assembling in Florida would spend a few days practicing before starting to try for the record starting Tuesday, Nov. 18. Team members have trained together across the world over the last few years to prepare for next week’s attempt.

Dr. Matrone gave the group a 50-50 chance of breaking the record because of how many pieces need to fall into place. Good weather is a must. They also need every plane and jumper to perform as expected.

“If you launch eight airplanes and one of them has a problem, they all have to come down,” Dr. Matrone said. “Then every pilot of those airplanes has to be on their game and be in the right spot. And then every jumper has to have a good jump on the same jump.

“So, there’s a lot that goes into it.”

For more information on the record attempt, visit https://www.crwworldrecord.org/.