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 Institute of Cancer Research, please use this page.
• If you would like to donate to the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Unit at UCLH, 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,
Steph and Ali
