The father and ex-serviceman was harnessed to tandem skydive instructor Arron Toepfer, 35, when two parachutes failed to open and the pair crashed into a paddock at Torquay in southern Victoria on July 30.

Mr Toepfer tragically died at the scene.

Mr Rantall said a day hadn't gone by that he wasn't "at least teary eyed", suffering what he referred to as "survivor's guilt".

"How come I survived and Arron didn't?" he said.

But Mr Rantall, of Dennington in western Victoria, said it was important to count your blessings and vowed to never take life for granted again.

"I should have been dead and for some reason God kept me alive and I hope that gives people hope and a positive attitude to keep going forward," he said.

The accident left Mr Rantall with a dislocated and fractured hip, internal bleeding to his spleen and kidney and broken ribs.

He underwent hip surgery to remove a piece of floating bone and the following month involved daily hospital appointments and rehabilitation, including hydrotherapy at St John of God Hospital. Mr Rantall said while his recovery had been hard, both mentally and physically, he was "forever grateful" to be alive.

"Arron doesn't have the opportunity for recovery and if you look at the injuries that I have miraculously been saved from ... well I shouldn't even be walking," he said.

"I shouldn't be here yet not only am I alive but I'm able-bodied. I look at this process with humility and with contentment because it could be a lot worse than what it is and I'm just so happy and grateful that I can move as much as I can and be here today."

Mr Rantall said he'd dreamt of jumping out of a plane since the 1990s and was finally ticking the activity off his bucket list.

He was the last to exit a tiny plane overlooking Torquay, with his daughter Raya jumping just seconds before him - an experience planned to mark her 30^th birthday. Mr Rantall said he was nervous but excited as they jumped and began free falling.

"It was the best feeling I'd had in a long, long time," he said. "We're free falling and I'm just loving life."

But unbeknown to Mr Rantall, the first parachute failed to open. He said when he looked up, he saw what he now knows to be the reserve strings but the parachute wasn't filling with air.

"I could see Raya and her instructor floating above us and I realised we were still in free fall," he said.

"Aaron was using his legs to try and crawl my legs back in a bent position and I presume he was doing everything possible to counteract what was happening. That's the last thing I can recall, I don't remember the impact."

Mr Rantall said he had vague memories of being on the ground, his hip and leg in significant pain.

He was flown to The Alfred hospital where he spent six days before being transferred to Warrnambool Base Hospital. Mr Rantall said he was forever indebted to Mr Toepfer and was devastated to hear of his death.

"Arron's bravery helped cushion my fall. He chose to protect me over the cost of his own life," he said.

"Arron did all that he could on the way down to protect me from that impact."

Mr Rantall said it took him about three days to comprehend what had happened.

"When I found out that Arron had died, it was very upsetting," he said.

"I owe him my life."