Songwriter Emily Shackelton’s husband, Caleb James, in skydiving accident

Caleb James, Emily Shackelton, and children

Singer-songwriter Emily Shackelton is needing your prayers today after her husband was injured in an accident over the weekend.

Emily’s husband, Caleb James, is a manager at Music City Skydiving in Waverly, TN and, according to a GoFundMe set up for the family, was in a skydiving accident on Saturday, August 31. Caleb did survive but will, as you can imagine, need a lot of care and help in the coming months.

From the GoFundMe:

Caleb James, a beloved member of the skydiving community, was in a terrible accident on Saturday August 31st. Caleb has completely dedicated his life to Skydiving since the day he went on his first tandem. Becoming triple rated, earning his riggers license, and most recently accepting the Drop Zone Manager position at Music City Skydiving. He has changed so many lives and is truly an asset and inspiration to us all. However his most important job is what compels us to create this fundraiser. Devoted husband to his beautiful wife Emily and father to 4 year old Ben and 2 year old Ruby. Caleb is headed down a long expensive road to recovery requiring multiple surgeries and an undetermined amount of recovery time. He is strong, he is loved, and he is ready. But now it’s our chance to give back to Caleb. If we all make a small donation, together we can help ease this financial burden and his family can focus on recovery. Whether you are a skydiver, friend, family member, coworker, musician, singer, songwriter, or a total stranger… we are humbly asking for you to help however you can. Let’s show the world how strong this community can be and how well we take care of our brothers and sisters. We live to jump, and we jump to live. Blue Skies and many thanks to you all.

There’s no further information about what may have happened, although I did hear it was something to do with Caleb’s parachute not opening.

Which is terrifying.

I have reached out to several people to see if I can get more information and will let you know if I find out anything.

Emily is a well respected and talented singer-songwriter who has written songs for Reba McEntire, Sara Evans, Jana Kramer, David Cook, Seth Ennis, Mickey Guyton, and Cassadee Pope. She’s also written songs for Nashville and American Idol. Her most recent hit is Carly Pearce’s Every Little Thing.

Emily has also performed for CMT’s Song Suffragettes series.

Please keep Emily and her family in your prayers and if you’d like to donate to the GoFundMe, you can do that here.