Hi everyone!
On July 3rd I did something that I will remember for the rest of my life- a sponsored skydive! I mentioned in a previous post that I had been busy fundraising for charity, the charity was Helen and Douglas House, a hospice for children and young people based in Oxford. My older sister, Jemma was diagnosed with a rare genetic illness at the age of 2 and died at the age of 7, when I was 3. Helen House (as it was then- Douglas House was added later) opened its doors as the first children's hospice in the world the same year that Jemma was born and she started going there for respite care a couple of years later, after her diagnosis. Helen House provided invaluable care to Jemma and support to my family and is remembered as a happy and homely place to be.
As Jemma would've been turning 30 last August, the same year as Helen House were celebrating their 30th anniversary, my family decided to raise money for H&DH to commemorate these events throughout the year ending in August this year. We organised various events including a bake sale and a 'Jazzfrezi' curry night with live jazz music, raffle and auction but it was my uncle's idea to do a skydive and as I had always wanted to do one, I jumped at the chance! Overall we raised over £3,000 which we are all really proud of!
Our first jump was actually rescheduled due to bad weather after we'd sat at the skydive centre for around 4 hours staring at the clouds willing them to clear! Our second attempt was more successful though, and on the day of our jump we arrived at the centre, went through our training brief again (make like a banana!) then waited around for a few people to jump before us which was great to watch! Finally, when it was our turn we went and got our suits on and met our tandem instructors. My instructor was really friendly and although I (surprisingly) wasn't nervous made me feel at ease, making jokes and teasing me about my footwear choice (my colourful Fred Perry plimsolls!). The atmosphere was so relaxed that it didn't really occur to me to be nervous, even the pilot drove up to the plane in a golf buggy dressed in shorts, t-shirt and trainers. Having only ever seen commercial pilots it was funny to see one without the posh uniform etc.! After all the waiting (about 4 months!) I was bursting to do it so jumped on the plane and thought to myself 'I'm going to enjoy every second of this, I'm not going to waste any time being nervous' and it honestly worked!
As we were gradually climbing above the clouds and I knew that I would be first to jump, I focused my mind on enjoying the experience and remembering what I needed to do during the jump. Before I knew it, the doors were being opened and my instructor (very securely strapped to my back) started pushing me down the bench, onto the floor of the plane and out of the door! One minute I was sat on the edge, the next I was hanging out the door with my arms folded and head back and a second after that I could see the plane that I'd just jumped out of!
OMG, I was falling through the air belly up! Another second later and I was up the right way with my arms out. After a gulp of cold air, I caught my breath and opened my eyes to see the camera man filming right in front of me! The feeling was incredible, I really can't express how amazing it was to feel the wind, so fresh and cold in my face, to hear it rushing past my ears like when you're driving fast with the windows open and the feeling of freedom and invincibility! My instructor encouraged me to pull silly faces at the camera and move my arms around to feel the effect it had on our speed and direction but all I could think was 'I can't believe it!' and shouted this several times at the camera man along with lines like 'this is f***ing AMAZING!' and 'WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!', haha!
All too soon it was time for my instructor to pull the cord and release the parachute, I just remember seeing the camera man pull his first and then disappear through the clouds before I was yanked upright and we too began a slow descent through the clouds. As we peeked through the clouds and the ground became visible my ears started really hurting, I had to hold my nose and blow several times to re-pressurise them like I'd been told to do. My instructor asked me how I was doing and started loosening a few straps to make to ride to the ground a bit more comfortable. We enjoyed the wonderful views for a while and did a few loopy tricks to impress the spectators before my instructor got me to practise my landing position and then pointed out my family on the ground as they came into view. I gave them a good old wave before we again assumed the landing position and gently made contact with the grass. I immediately wanted to go up again and couldn't wait to go and tell everyone all about it! However, I noticed that my throat had become very dry and sore from the shouting, oops! I saw my uncle land seconds later and he too was ecstatic!
We collected our certificates, photos and DVD and made our way home, still on a high. It was a fantastic experience and one that I will definitely have to repeat!
Finally, if you fancy watching the video here it is on YouTube!
