Shayni in the Sky, a film about Shayni Couch and her journey of love and loss, set to debut in NZ

Shayni and Micah Couch in Norway.

When 21-year-old Shayni Hawkins set out from her home in Northland bound for Dubai, it was for a short-term adventure. Within months, she’d met American Micah Couch during a skydive and the adventurous couple married at Tutukākā. Tragedy struck three years later when Micah died during a wingsuit Base jump, only two weeks after learning Shayni was pregnant. Now the documentary Shayni in the Sky, which tracks her journey, will debut in New Zealand next month. From her US home, Shayni speaks with Jodi Bryant before its release.

A reset for many involves taking deep breaths, going for a walk and grounding themselves in the present. For Shayni Couch, it’s jumping out of a plane.

She does this every week and the 35-year-old has had a lot to reset over the years after setting off on an overseas adventure aged 21, meeting the love of her life, then losing him in a wingsuit Base (buildings, antennas, spans and earth) jump accident and raising the son he never got to meet.

“It’s freedom,” she says of the free-fall stage of a jump. “It’s 100% in the moment. If you have a bunch of thoughts going on or worries, as soon as you exit the aircraft or leave the cliff’s edge, you’re right there. It’s really such a peaceful place to be. That sounds crazy to people, but it’s actually a really amazing reset.”

Shayni took her first skydive in the Bay of Islands for her 18th birthday. Although she loved it, it wasn’t until she was working in Dubai that she became addicted.

“I was working on a superyacht parked next to a skydiving drop zone and every day I watched them. One day, the owner came onto the yacht and asked if I wanted to do a skydive and, of course, I said yes. Micah was the videographer and I soon became part of the community and thought, ‘Why aren’t I doing this all the time?’”

Shayni, Micah and friends jumping from a hot air balloon over Dubai. Photo / Juan Mayer

She did a free-fall course, subsequently joining an all-female skydiving team called Joy Riders. But while it was always a hobby for Shayni, it was Micah’s career.

“It had always been his dream. The skydiving operation where Micah worked as an instructor hand-picked instructors from around the world. It was a hub for a lot of up-and-coming skydivers and a big break for a lot of people in the sport. Micah and I would do skydives together every weekend for fun. He taught me a lot.”

She describes her love for Micah as unique and soon brought him home to meet her family and show him her home country.

“He absolutely loved New Zealand and wanted us to eventually live there. He thought it was very in-line with his idea of a good lifestyle. He was very friendly and open, so his whole personality vibed with the Kiwi way of life and fit right in.”

Shayni and Micah Couch were chuffed to make the front page of the Advocate in 2014.

Her family loved him from the get-go: “He had a really big personality. I think they could see just how happy I was.”

The couple returned to Tutukākā Coast in 2014 for a clifftop wedding with guests flying from all over the world.

The following day, Dive! Tutukākā, where Shayni spent her teenage years working as a dive master, took the wedding guests to Poor Knights, where the newlyweds had an underwater photo session beneath the El Torito Arch.

Shayni and Micah flying. Photo / Juan Mayer

Three years later, while Micah was participating in an annual extreme sports week in Norway, Shayni, who by then was managing a fleet of 12 superyachts in Dubai, discovered she was pregnant.

“I told him over the phone and, oh my God, I think he shouted as loud as he could to everyone within hearing range! He was beyond excited.”

Shayni travelled to Norway so they could rejoice in the news together, before returning to Dubai. She didn’t know that would be the last time she would see her husband.

Micah Couch doing a Base jump in a wingsuit. Photo / Samet Baydar

Micah, 34, and a friend had trudged up a mountain for two hours before making a wingsuit Base jump.

A wingsuit has sections of fabric between the arms and legs that inflate, allowing its wearer to glide through the air when in free-fall.

It is said to be the closest a person can get to flying.

It is unclear what went wrong, but the friends fell together before parting to activate their parachutes. Micah’s never deployed.

“I don’t really know exactly what happened and I won’t ever know,” says Shayni. “It could have been any number of things.

It was a long hike, he was tired, and it wasn’t the first jump of the day. He was also flying in a suit specifically designed for racing, making it more pressurised, and harder to move your arms and legs to deploy your parachute.

“Base jumping, you’re very close to the ground to deploy your parachute, there’s just no room for error. I think it was a perfect storm of different things that all came together for that to happen.”

Shayni describes her love for Micah as unique.

The accident was a shock to many, given Micah’s reputation.

“Obviously, the sport is dangerous and we’d lost a lot of friends before that point and I was starting to feel uncomfortable about it, but he was building a career around it and when someone you love is doing something that makes them happy, it’s a hard place to be to tell them not to do that any more.

“I think people just don’t think it’s going to happen to them, otherwise they live in fear. You could die crossing the road. Having said that, Base jumping makes skydiving look safe!”

Shayni, Micah and friends Base jumping in Norway. Photo / Ross Reichenbach

The couple had many plans for that summer and, not knowing what else to do, Shayni carried them out with her mother and mother-in-law by her side.

She continued jumping until 26 weeks pregnant and travelled to places where she felt close to her husband.

“Then I got super pregnant and came back to New Zealand and started nesting to create a nice place to bring our child into the world.”

Shayni and her son Lincoln.

She stayed in Ngunguru for four months after Lincoln Micah was born, before setting off with him to travel.

“It was just me and a baby. He went to 11 countries before he was a year old. I didn’t know where I needed to be, so I went and visited all our friends and family who loved Micah.”

She distributes Micah’s ashes at many of the places she visits. Although she no longer Base-jumps, in 2019 she revisited the place in Norway where they had last jumped together and took Micah’s ashes with her when she jumped.

“I started to hate [Base jumping] and it was really hard for me to accept that people felt it was worth dying for. But part of the grieving process is to let go of some of the hate and remember why Micah loved it so much.”

In 2019 Shayni revisited the place in Norway where she and Micah had last jumped together and took his ashes with her when she jumped. Photo / Noah Bahnson

The feature film Shayni in the Sky follows her as she returns to the Norwegian mountain. New York film-maker Gabriel Garton had wanted to make a film in honour of Micah, but it evolved into an intimate story of connection, loss, grief, resilience and how love and risk often go hand-in-hand.

For Gabriel, the film-making process became a test of endurance. Not long after filming wrapped, he was diagnosed with a rare progressive neuromuscular disease and ended up having intense surgery. He edited the entire film himself, while housebound and recovering, piecing together a story about perseverance while living through his own version of it.

Micah Couch after a wingsuit race in Arizona with Red Bull Aces. Photo / Will Kitto

“I was supportive of what Gabe wanted to do, but I also didn’t have all of the energy to give to it as it was very difficult for me,” Shayni says. “I think someone else needed to tell it. It’s really hard to talk about yourself and be the centre of the story.

“I love the parts where Micah’s in it. I think Gabe has done a really good job and told it in an amazing way that I hope resonates with people, but I also feel like there’s so much untold, as you couldn’t possibly fit a lifetime of experience and connection on a screen in 90 minutes.”

Lincoln Couch has inherited the adventurous spirit of his parents.

Today she lives near Seattle, where she and Micah had planned to live together. Micah’s family see a lot of blond-haired, blue-eyed Lincoln, now 7, who has similar mannerisms to the father he never met.

“I still skydive every weekend and feel closer to him every time. Lincoln’s grown up around it so, for him, it’s a completely normal part of life to be around people jumping out of planes.

“He’s adventurous like Micah and me, so he has that trait in him and, one day, if he wants to do it, then I’ll support that, but it’s up to him.

“We try to bring Micah into conversations, but it’s a tough concept to wrap your head around when you haven’t had that person in your life, yet they’re so significant.

“We’re just trying to navigate it without putting my grief on him. It never goes away. You just learn how to live with the grief and continue to live a really beautiful life, and I thought that was worth sharing with others [through the film].”

Shayni, Lincoln and family will be travelling to New Zealand next month to watch the premiere of Shayni in the Sky for the Doc Edge Film Festival, which runs from June 24 to August 25. It will be playing in Auckland on July 12 and 13, with further screenings in Wellington and Christchurch.