WE DIVED AND SURVIVED
Page creator: Stephanie Pywell
Page closes: 13th Oct 2008
Fundraising Page Image
Alison and Gary coming in to land
About the charity : The Leukaemia & Lymphoma Unit, UCLH Charities The Leukaemia & Lymphoma Unit, UCLH Charities
Funds raised for the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Unit at UCH go towards improving patients' experience by providing state of the art medical equipment, amenties, complementary therapy for patients and supporting postgraduate education for nurses. The unit treats patients with leukaemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anaemia, thalassaeimia and all other haematological disorders. It is part of UCLH charities.
Charity Registration No 229771
Fundraising target:  £1,000.00
Donations so far:  £ 1,033.50
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We did it!

On Wednesday 11 June, aided and abetted by two strong and capable men, we plummeted head-first from a light aircraft two miles above the earth ... and we have lived to tell the tale. Thanks to the generosity of our family and friends, we have also helped to  enrich two charities whose work helps people to survive cancer.

The evidence is on the left. If you click on any one of the small photos (which were randomly selected by a cybermachine over which I appear to have no control at all), you go to a Flickr page where, on the right, you can click into a file called "The Evidence! (Set)". If you click on "browse" at the bottom of that set, then on "Detail" at the top left of the next page, you can see all the photos, in the correct order. If you knew all this already, sorry for wasting your time: I can only assume that your brain was not recently subjected to a G-force beyond the wildest imagination of the average 50-year-old.

Thankfully, we quickly got into the stable face-to-ground position, which instructors rather whimsically liken to "lying on a bed of air", and travelled at 125 mph through the icy atmosphere and a layer of cloud. 

About 45 seconds later, we were jolted unceremoniously into a vertical position as our parachutes opened. From that point, we had about seven minutes of being suspended in space, not feeling as though we were moving at all, but conscious that things on the ground (including, of course, Barry, who has more sense than both of us put together) were getting gradually larger.

 

Alison and her minder, Gary, landed on their feet – his quickly followed by hers. Steph and Steve landed on their respective posteriors, though his hit the ground first, and she was delighted to find herself – legs inelegantly splayed but all bones intact – between his polyester-clad legs.

 

Our 8-minute adventure involved our being out of the house for 13 hours and an unprecedented amount of cloud-watching and wind-assessing.

 

We both thought it was an amazing, fantastic, wonderful experience, though neither of us wishes ever to repeat it.

 

As you will know if you have visited our pages before, we aimed to raise at least £1,000 to help more people to survive cancer. We have already received just over £2,000, excluding Gift Aid. If nothing else, this project proves that we know some fantastically kind and generous people: if you are one of them, thank you very much.

 

If you haven't yet sponsored us, we would be really grateful if you would donate to either or both of two charities:

 

If you would like to donate to the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Unit at UCLH, please use this page.

 

If you would like to donate to the Institute of Cancer Research, please use this link.

 

If you would like to donate half your money to each charity, please make a separate entry on each page - that would be brilliant!

 

We chose these two charities because Barry has now been in remission for over a year from the fast-growing and very rare form of lymphoma that he was diagnosed with in November 2006. We owe his life to the researchers who discovered the "magic bullet" part of his chemotherapy, and to the outstanding medical and nursing care that he received in the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Unit at University College Hospital, London while his immune system was temporarily destroyed by the chemo.

 

We booked our jumps direct with the airfield to save on costs. Barry paid the full cost of Steph's jump, and Ali paid £50 (just over one week's Student Loan!) towards hers. £115 was used to pay for the balance of Ali's jump, and all the rest of the funds raised will go direct to the two charities.

 

This is the official bit: "Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor us: The Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research Unit, UCLH, will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you."


Thank you very much for your support.

With best wishes from two exhilarated and exhausted women,

Ali and Steph

Display Name Date Amount Tax Bonus  Comment
Peter Hancock 04/10/2008 £10.00 £2.82 No Comment 
philip jones 02/07/2008 £5.00 £1.41 wow, well done! (sorry i can't be more) 
David Smith 19/06/2008 £20.00 n/a well done! this is a much better use of my money than rum! best of luck meeting your goal! 
Amanda Ward 16/06/2008 £20.00 £5.64 Well done you idiots! I am very proud of you both! 
Liz Powell 09/06/2008 £10.00 £2.82 Good luck and well done! 
Heather Smith 09/06/2008 £10.00 £2.82 How could you do this to your Aunt?!! Enjoy the ride! 
The Airds 07/06/2008 £25.00 £7.05 Give me a hilly marathon anyday! Enjoy the adrenaline rush! 
Maurice Corda 06/06/2008 £15.00 £4.23 Good Luck. Hope you have an exhilarating experience. 
The Vees 03/06/2008 £25.00 £7.05 Good Luck, Enjoy the experience!? 
Julian Bates 02/06/2008 £15.00 £4.23 Good luck! 
Alison 01/06/2008 £4.00 n/a You guys are sooo brave! Enjoy!!! :) 
Naomi and Roger 01/06/2008 £50.00 £14.10 Have a great day and enjoy the jump! 
Abby Smith 30/05/2008 £10.00 n/a A present to my very favourite one, Love your green crayon xxx 
Jenny Rhodes 29/05/2008 £5.00 n/a For an unemployed student, I had to be a little less generous... sorry! Much love x 
Jenny Rhodes 29/05/2008 £5.00 n/a For an unemployed student, I had to be a little less generous... sorry! Much love x 
Helen Rhodes 29/05/2008 £7.50 n/a A last act of generosity before I become an impoverished student but definately a worthy cause! x 
Donna 12/05/2008 £5.00 £1.41 Good Luck! I have too many people to sponsor so have to spread it out hehe 
Diane & Ken Porter 11/05/2008 £30.00 £8.46 Wish we had thought of that, what a great way to raise money, Good Luck 
Hazells 08/05/2008 £25.00 £7.05 Wow, what an amazingly crazy thing to do. Must be the best theme park ride ever. A great way to celebrate! 
Claire Metcalfe 08/05/2008 £5.00 n/a Good Luck 
Ian of Hertford 07/05/2008 £20.00 £5.64 Just remember to open your eyes on the way down to get the full experience - Good Luck! 
Stockbridges 07/05/2008 £25.00 £7.05 You don't need a parachute to go skydiving - only if you want to go again! Good luck. 
Jean Dyer 03/05/2008 £20.00 £5.64 Good luck - I shall be thinking of you! 
Liz McElwain 01/05/2008 £20.00 £5.64 Best of luck to you both. Safe landings! 
Katie 30/04/2008 £5.00 n/a Same as the other one- if I get my registry job back I'll pop more in later x 
Hazel S 27/04/2008 £10.00 n/a Good luck, love you! 
joybells 27/04/2008 £20.00 £5.64 Go on, leap for joy (sorry, had to!!!!!!!!) 
Tony & Jen 25/04/2008 £15.00 £4.23 Bon chance! 
Karin & Neil Dodds 25/04/2008 £15.00 n/a Enjoy the ride ! 
Danielle Norman 24/04/2008 £5.00 £1.41 Good Luck!! 
Kath Mennell 21/04/2008 £10.00 £2.82  
Anthony 20/04/2008 £10.00 n/a Good Luck! 
Liz H 17/04/2008 £25.00 £7.05 Happy landings ! 
Moira 17/04/2008 £25.00 £7.05  
Andrew and Deirdre 16/04/2008 £25.00 £7.05 A small donation but great joy at such a restoration of health and happiness. 
Verisign secure site-- click to verify SPONSOR ME NOW
*Total donated online: £551.50
Amount raised offline: £482.00
Gift Aid plus supplement: £128.33
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