I'd wanted to jump out of a plane for ages, call me mad. I wanted to experience that rush and to know what it felt like. Instead of filling me with dread it filled me with excitement and whenever I saw or heard of anyone else doing it I really wanted to do it too. It was also one of the experiences Luke didn't get to do, so it was a massive thing to me to make sure that I did it for him. It so happened to be the anniversary of the day that he was first diagnosed with Leukaemia.
I arrived at the airfield at 7.30am for a check in at 8am - I'd been told to get there early as the earlier you register the earlier you get to jump and I for one didn't want to be hanging around on the day. I knew that the hanging around would be when the nerves would kick in. In all honesty, leading up to the jump there had been moments where I thought about it and imagined doing it and the nerves kicked in, but on the day I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. It was no different than the nerves I'd experienced starting a new job or reading a speech.
After registering the waiting began but in the space of 40 minutes I found myself with two others being trained how to jump out of a plane, what position I needed to be in when jumping and how to land. After I came out of the training some familiar faces appeared to cheer me on - Holly, cash, John, Ava, Monty, Mum and Clive. I got myself kitted out and stepped into my yellow jumpsuit having also met my instructor who I was going to be jumping with. It was perfect weather with not a cloud in the sky and hardly any wind, so we were set to go.
Working out to the plane Mr Brightside pumped out of the speakers at the airfield and my confidence and excitement increased. At this point I was really surprised how little nerves I had. being the only female jumping in the morning, and it being International Women's Day gave me even more inspiration and the knowledge that what I was about to experience and the feeling I was expecting to have afterwards massively outweighed all of the potential nerves.
Into the plane I got and found myself positioned right by the door which clearly meant I was set to jump first. Up we went.... 5000ft, 10,000ft, 15,000ft, all within a space of about 7 minutes. The light above the door went green and the shutter door was pulled back letting the air rush in over my goggle covered eyes and face. As I inched forward I leant back getting into the position to jump. Before I knew it I was falling, tumbling and quite surprisingly not feeling that overwhelming surge of adrenaline or that stomach turning feeling when you fall. I had no concept of falling as I was looking straight ahead at the horizon, not at the floor as I plummeted towards it! It was sensory overload and I couldn't quite take it all in meaning that instead of feeling something I was just feeling. I wish I could have done that part in slow motion to really experience it, but before I knew it my parachute was open and I jerked back. This, at this one point, is where I felt a sense of fear for about 5 seconds. The feeling of only being held by a harness and that I was putting my trust into that made me aware of what I was doing. But as quickly as I felt it I forgot it as I was greeted by this amazing sense of calm. Due to the amazing weather I could see the devon and dorset coast, I could see South Wales and Somerset. The lack of wind meant that there was little noise. I took the reins and steered doing loops and changing direction whilst heading towards my original starting point.The time came to approach for landing, which was the hardest part of the whole jump physically. Raising your legs to 90 degree angles when the air pressure pushing down on them is ridiculous is hard work. With help from my instructor I did it and we landed safely.
Would I do it again.... hell yes!!! I may have found a new hobby. An expensive one, but an incredible one and an experience I loved every minute of.
No comments:
Post a Comment