My Skydive by Amy McMillan
A fantastic effort from Amy McMillan who dived out of a plane over Cambridge on September 14th 2019
Congratulations, well done and thank you very much Amy, from all at CRPS UK and the CRPS community on your fantastic achievement and fundraising. You can read about Amy’s Skydive and her reasons for choosing CRPS on her blog here
CRPS UK is a really important charity to my whole family. My younger cousin suffers with the awful condition CRPS and it has totally turned her life upside down, but CRPS UK offers support and community for anyone affected by this rare neurological disorder.
That’s why I knew any fundraising I did, needed to be something really worth the cause… And what better way to push myself to the limit than with a skydive?
On 14th September, I set off to the skydiving site in Cambridgeshire, alongside my parents, who kindly came to support me. I was full of excited energy! After filling out a couple of forms and going to a couple of safety and instruction talks, it was time to meet the professional who would be doing the tandem skydive with me. His name was Mike, and he instantly put me at ease. He was really friendly and had years of experience.
It wasn’t long until I was being hurried over to the plane. I gave my Mum and Dad and hug and hopped aboard with two other girls who were also doing the tandem dives. I felt weirdly calm as the plane started to ascend… I was more focused on the gorgeous view – it was a beautifully sunny day and you could see the stretch of green fields for miles. It was only when the plane door opened that my heart started to race a bit! Mike informed me that we would be jumping first (I was quite pleased because I didn’t fancy watching anyone else jump out before me) and we slid to the edge of the plane door. I gave a deep breath and before I knew it, we were hurtling down.
The free fall was a total rush of adrenaline – I loved it! Think of the most thrilling roller-coaster you’ve ever been on, then times it by 1000! The air is rushing at you so fast that it feels quite hard to catch your breath, but I don’t think I stopped grinning the whole time. It was amazing. After 50 seconds of falling, Mike then tapped me on the shoulder to indicate that the parachute would be coming out. There was then a massive WHOOSH, our bodies flung up and all the noises suddenly became really still.
The next part was total zen in comparison to what had just happened! We got to slowly float down to the ground, as we admired the lovely view. Mike chatted to me as we made our descent, but I could barely hear him since my ears had popped so much!
We finally reached the bottom, and I noticed how shaky I was from the adrenaline. Mum and Dad were there waiting for me and I ran over to them to tell them all about it!
All in all, it was such a memorable day and I am so pleased I got to raise money for such an incredible charity. In total, I raised £1,104 (and £1,303.25 with Gift Aid), which was well over my target so I am really chuffed. If anyone would like to donate, I believe the page is still open here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AmyMcMillan3
