SICKLE CELL SKYDIVE

Just a recap from my last blog post.

After a month of campaigning to raise funds for Sickle Cell the day finally arrive.

Up until March 30th I was shitting it…I cant pretend. The day came around quickly! I booked it in November, starting the campaign at the beginning of March…blinked…and I was on the train heading to Cambridgeshire.

Despite arriving at 9am I had a 6hour wait which I spent indulging in RuPauls drag race, back to back episodes whilst chomping on fat chips.

I woke up from a nap to someone tapping my shoulder. My name was being called. Strapped up and feeling fearless I reapplied some carmex, fixed my barnet and headed to the small plane. It was pretty crowded and someone farted…but that the couldn’t stop the adrenaline pumping as we rose higher and higher.

The first thing I noticed was my ears popping…no one had warned me about that. Despite being over 100ft in the sky my stomach was yet to flip. Confused I looked out of the window to try and conjure up more fear but nothing, no butterflies just a beautiful view.

As people started jumping out of the plane my heartbeat began to climb. There was a moment just before we jumped where I can say I died. I began to ask all the Gods and higher beings for forgiveness. I was clearly mad for doing this so please forgive me and do not let me die.

Then…one, two, three… we JUMPED. It was incredible. I was soaring through the sky like a big bird in my yellow jumpsuit. As we descended through the clouds all I remember thinking…Im not dead…Im literally drifting through clouds obviously I stuck my tongue out to get a taster.

We hung around for a bit, did a couple of spins. Then headed back down. The landing was pretty simple, before I knew it we were back on the ground.

My only complaint is the skydiving company itself ‘North London skydive‘. I cant recommend it to anyone. It was a ridiculously long wait which could have been avoided if anyone had answered the phones the day before or that morning. Everything was overpriced and stale. None of the plug sockets in the dusty, battered cafeteria nor the computers they boasted about worked.

It cost so much for the free fall video and pictures. The skydive guy jumped in to every single picture as if we were going dutch on the price. I literally had to say I want one by myself is that okay?

To clarify, every single penny raised went went directly to the charity. This was not a sponsored dive.

Overall it was an amazing experience! A big personal achievement and I have so far raised £1,123.98 for The Sickle Cell Society. Hopefully more people are aware of Sickle Cell disease and will help in finding a cure and better pain relief.