When Marina Hernandez lost the balance at the roof in front of her toilet window, her life was thrown off balance before. Her body slipped, the right hand could not hold her anymore. Still her left hand held the mobile phone with which she told some friends her last will. Her voice was hysterical. She said she was threatened, she was afraid. In case of death special details should be published. Then her body fell down. 14 meters of nothingness were in front of her, 27 years were behind her. Today she does not know which period seemed longer the life or the nothingness.

It was the 8th of September 2000, 3.55 a.m. when her body touched the ground in Hamburg-Eilbek. The fall was insignificant softened by some bushes. Her first thought: Get on the feet. But her heels were fractured, also one thigh, the pelvis, the left arm. She lost consciousness, she went into a coma.

In the intensive care unit of St. George Hospital her life came back but also the pain. The pain raged in the lower abdomen till it was calmed by morphine. The remembrance raged in her memory and could not be calmed. It was like a film which is always repeated. The anonymous call 20 minutes before the fall. "You slut, I'll get you," with a strange eastern accent. The stabbed tyres. The breathing at the phone. The disappeared house key. The panic that someone could intrude into her flat. The flight onto the roof.

And then the evening before the nothingness. Vodka drinks and the party in the VIP bar "Wollenberg". A splendid villa at the river Alster. Best address, best guests, selected by the promoter Michael Ammer. In the upper floor the dining room, the famous ladies' room. In the lower floor the club with Ammer's VIP corner, a fireplace and permanent guest Dieter Bohlen, a famous German song producer.

Marina Hernandez made conversation with Dieter Bohlen. Or talked Dieter Bohlen with Marina Hernandez? The exact course of events at this evening in the "Wollenberg" could not be cleared up because Michael Ammer intervened.

Later Ammer's attorney informed: "Miss Hernandez is known as a lady who has the intention to be seen in presence of VIP's in order to produce rumours of relationships with one of them. So among other things she attempted to start an affair with a known heavyweight boxer and with a Hamburg soccer professional. And she attempted to show this in media. This is a well known characteristic of Miss Hernandez."

Obviously Ammer wanted to protect Bohlen against the rumours. Bohlen said the conversation with Hernandez was nice. He did not know why Ammer got upset. Marina Hernandez said she was insulted by Ammer without reason and thrown out. Her feelings were hurt and she felt a humiliation. At 2.52 a.m. she stopped a patrol car of the Hamburg police. She reported Michael Ammer to the authorities. But the reason was not Ammer, it was the high society which pushed her to the top like a butterfly in a wind tunnel. And now, in the last months, she is out, reels and tumbles back to earth.

She was born at the 24th of March 1973. Her mother is German and wanted to bear her baby in Germany. The father is physician in the US army and chose a military hospital in Würzburg for the childbirth. Marina got US documents. She grew up in San Francisco, Wiesbaden and her place of birth, with nine brothers. She did her school-leaving exam in Munich after an interruption because of some model jobs in South Africa. Marina knows that she is pretty. She knows that she is shrewd. And she knows how to use both attributes.

She was harassed by men. Insignificant, important, young, old, rich and poor men. She plays with them, sat with David Coulthard in a jacuzzi, with Jacques Villeneuve at the bar. She sent a short message: "My favourites: fast cars, shooting, flying."

At the 23rd of December 1999 she reached what she dreamed of - and spent 148,000 German marks. This is the price to become a pilot. She has the licences for a Boing 737. She flew on the top. The sky is nearer than the earth. When she came back, Bernd Hollerbach, the soccer player, waited on the ground. He has strong legs and is prominent - at least in Hamburg. They lived in one flat. Marina said "Darling" to Bernd. Bernd said "Honey" to Marina. Carefully she arranged his shirts in groups of colours: lilac, old rose, light blue, white. The suitable jackets over them, sporting socks at the left, socks for suits at the right. But this is only a therapy of occupation. In fact she burned with desire. A desire for freedom, for sex, for parties, for life.

She met the kings of the underworld and their lackeys. She has a talent for languages, so she spoke occasionally with an Albanian accent. She offered a known tennis player to lick her new Versace boots for 1.000 dollars. He took out the purse. But Marina waved off: It was a joke. Marina is not greedy for money, at least not very greedy. Even she is not greedy for contacts with VIP's. She is greedy for life. She wants to experience. Fast cars! Shooting! Flying! She lives at the fast lane and needs no drugs to hold on the speed.

She provokes others and herself. At a party she said to a blonde known from television: "I would like to have fun with you." Although blonde is not her favourite colour. The lady is shocked. Marina is content. Later she apologized.

When Bernd was at the trainings camp Vladimir called. Vladimir Klitschko, box champion. He sent flowers, so many that their stalks could not fit the champagne cooler. Marina moved out from Bernd's flat to Vladimir's. Now she spoke with Russian accent. Klitschko did not say "Honey" to her, but "Staruschka". She called him "Little boy", although there was no anatomical reason for this word. Then she provided a carpet for his apartment: yellow like the sun and blue like the sky. In front of the bedroom the colours formed the national flag of the Ukraine.

Faster, higher, further. Marina's life started to rotate with maximum speed. In Hamburg she drove Klitschko's yellow Volvo with tinted windows. The car has Ukrainian number plates, so she did not get traffic tickets. During boxing matches she sat in the first row. She was the theme of newspaper articles. After a while she got on the nerves of Klaus-Peter Kohl, the manager of Klitschko: "Now who is the star? Klitschko or Hernandez?"

Marina felt that a opposition is formed. Rumours were spread, she might have a bad influence on Klitschko, she endangers his career. One newspaper wrote, she moved back to Hollerbach. Hollerbach denied officially. But Vladimir was annoyed. She appeared demonstrative at his next fight. Yet she did not have a job as pilot. A dangerous opponent seemed to face her. He was invisible, and she did not know who he was. Another person? Or only she herself?

She could not imagine yet that anyone could stop her flight of fancy. She was still pretty and strong. And she was self-confident. Meanwhile the relationship with Klitschko was veiled. She was not seen with him in public anymore. In Hamburg one could hear that Klitschko kicked her out. Marina said, she could not manage with people around Vladimir. It hindered her career as pilot to be known as Klitschko's girlfriend.

She jetted from one formula one race to the next. Canada, Monte Carlo, Hungary. New adventures, new friends, new meetings. Diversion from the fact that it was not going the best way. Once she came back in such a bad physical condition that a friend had to pick her up in a wheel chair at the airport. In August 2000 Marina Hernandez had to stay in hospital. She did not want to tell the reason. In Hamburg circulated different speculations: an abortion, a miscarriage. Klitschko might be the father. Only rumours, no evidence? In fact it was an examination of the amniotic fluid. Marina Hernandez was pregnant.

She did not talk about it. Presumably she felt in hospital for the first time that the power left her, that the air stream stopped which pushed the butterfly to the top, she felt the whole strength of gravity and stroked of fate. Life became difficult. Money was scarce. Klitschko rarely put in appearance. A secret weighed on her. She did not know if she could fly again. And right now she had a fantastic offer as pilot for a private jet.

The fun society spat Marina Hernandez out. She was weak like never before. She will not believe it yet. But at the 8th of September 2000 she could not dismiss it. At the roof in front of the toilet window she noticed that she could not hold herself any more. She was not able to stay on top. She slipped, she fell, she touched the ground. She lost one life, her own will not die.

Her pelvis has to be operated seven times because it healed badly. Seven times hope. Seven times pain. But Marina Hernandez fights again. She wears high heels and uses crutches, when she faces Michael Ammer in a courtroom. She gets 20.000 German marks from him to end the legal proceedings in the case of heavy bodily harm. A little success. But it is without importance for her. What are 20.000 marks in comparison with a life that was almost lost? Marina Hernandez goes back to her apartment under the roof. She has to walk with crutches, every step causes pain. But then she is upstairs. At the same level like before the fall. 14 meters above the abyss.