I was chatting to a fellow dogwalker in the park while our dogs played together about achievements and facing our fears, and she told me that she and her partner had been on a tandem skydive recently. They are both a few years older than me and, as they described their experience, I was more and more impressed.
Always intrigued by the concept of doing a parachute jump, I'd still worried that any training would be lost in the panic of the jump or, worse, that I'd get up in the air and panic and refuse to jump and then spend the rest of my life regretting it. It seems, though, that tandem jumping is the answer to all of that.
Leave aside that there's been an attempted murder using this method, I am trying not to think about that. I won't be alone: I'll be attached to an experienced skydiver, who'll be able to sort me out if I get into a muddle.
My skydive at (very) North London Skydiving in Cambridgeshire, is booked for a Saturday in July (weather permitting) and, since I had decided to do it anyway, I thought I might as well have a go at raising money for our branch of the Samaritans at the same time.
It costs Samaritans £5 to answer a call, and our branch answers the phone to over 1,500 callers each month. If you feel able to donate, please do by clicking on this link Thank you.
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