Skydiving changed my life

It gave me a confidence that I didn’t know I had, it taught me to have faith in myself and others and it opened up my eyes to a sport that is exhilarating and a bit geeky at the same time!

This page shares my journey from that very tandem skydive where I got the bug (and yes I did have ginger coloured short hair once) to my learn to skydive progression through to what I get up to in the sky now.

This was the start - a charity tandem skydive at Redlands farm Wanborough with Skydive London. My tandem instructor was Geordie Page and I was filmed by Jez Cooper. All arranged one night after a few glasses of red wine! with thanks to Brucie Johnson and the team at Skydive London who changed my life!I had th elowest ever tandem at just 6,500 ft which gave me approx 3 seconds of freefall. The next time I would experience freefall fully would be all on my own.

Then I took the offer of taking part in a RAPS course the following week after the tandem and I took the last place on the course for a mere £25 plus a crate of beer! And I did my first solo parachute jump that day. The video shows my progression and I simply can never put into words how grateful I was to enter this awesome world where I now have the best friends and the best hobby! RAPS is a bit brutal as you start low, get higher with longer delays but all on your own with no instructors supporting you. Not many people learn this way now and instead do Accelerated Free Fall (AFF)

The part of the video where I am pushed out tucked in a ball (unstable exit) was the first time I had been in freefall with another person (apart from the tandem of course) Dylan Griffiths-Jones was my main instructor and he was so patient, funny and kind. In this jump he had to see if I was able to make 360 turns right and left.

My CAT 8 jump. The qualifier was hilarious – dive exit, get stable, go unstable, stable again, 360 left, 360 right, short track and pull! I held in a stable position with my chin strap under my nose, pulled the rip cord and made a victory wave as I’d nailed it and then a pilot chute hesitation!! (you can see it burble and bounce on my back). When I ‘checked canopy’ it caught the air and my parachute opened. Bruice Johnson filmed this and it was my second attempt as I was so nervous on the first try.

GWAR (Ginger with attitude, Dope on a Rope – with a shiny new A licence! whoo hoo!

Next up 100 JUMPS and there is no stopping me. Brucie said if I got to 100 he would do it with me in a mankini and he did! So at the end of a long DZ day, in the sunset we got down to underwear and JUMPED!

Since 100 jumps I carried on and got my next level licence and to dateI have jumped in Spain, Portugal, Canada and America! I have my Formation Skydive Coach qualification and enjoy helping other people progress in the sport

I also enjoy wind tunnel flying.

If you’d like to skydive with me, give me a shout.

My home dropzone is Skydiving London –Skydive Centre, London Parachute School.