2 posts tagged “challenges”
Well for a start I got up really bloody early for someone who didn’t go to sleep until after 3.30 am, that being about 6am.
This day, another of my dreams came true as I plummeted through the sky from 13,500 ft.
I have thought about doing this since I was about 16 and really wanted to for many years since, I nearly got round to it about three years ago but was due an operation on my knee. Also my Mum wasn’t keen on the idea. Late last year I bit the bullet and set the ball in motion to do a jump this summer, one of three challenges I am taking to raise money for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People for their 25th anniversary this year. My Mum said she wouldn’t come and watch and she wasn’t there when I jumped as she passed away on Feb 1st this year.
My two good friends ( Bookmole and our Best Friend ) came to get me from home in High Wycombe in BFs car at 7am and off we set to Hinton Airfield near Bicester in Oxfordshire. The paperwork said to be there for 8.30am, we were as was some rather scared looking lady and her bloke but no staff and everything was all shut up. Staff began to arrive just after nine and the snack bar opened not long after for a welcome cup of tea and bacon sandwiches.
There were complications. All my sponsorship monies had come through on my Justgiving website here so I had no cash to hand in to the airfield on the day, I gave them contact numbers for people at Hearing Dogs who were dealing with it and that matter was soon sorted. I had my medical form with me all signed by the Dr to say I was fit to do a tandem jump ~ being a person over 40 years of age this is a necessity and the reason I was doing a tandem and not a solo jump. This was not enough apparently the surgery had not rubber stamped the form so I wouldn’t be allowed to jump unless it was. So I ring the surgery, it takes ages as you have to go through all that press 1, then press 3 stuff. I get their fax number so we can fax the form to them, they can rubber stamp it and fax it back. Sounds easy enough. The weather was not good. There was cloud cover, it was grey and it rained at times. Staff said that the Met Office said there would be a break in the weather in the afternoon, why didn’t we all go off somewhere and they would ring us when we were needed back. Bookmole, BF and I went for a walk with Books dog Heidi round the outskirts of the airfield. When we had been walking for about 40 mins I get the call to come back, the cloud is breaking.
We arrived back to find that the surgery still hadn’t faxed back the rubber stamped medical form. I rang them again, repeated the number back to them which I had been given earlier as the receptionist was saying no fax had arrived from the airfield it had been sent. Again they sent the fax, again no reply. So I ring them again. I am stressed now as the first lift is ready to go and I need to be on the next one. I get to speak to a different receptionist. Yet again I go through the story and repeat the fax number to her. Its not their fax number and the one she gives me is nothing like the one I had been told twice earlier was the right one. Finally though the fax is sent, stamped and returned and I am allowed to jump. The relief was enormous. I had been so looking forward to this.
During the instruction we had been told that when the time came to jump the instructor would be the one sitting on the floor in the doorway of the plane and we, being attached to their fronts would be dangling until they jumped. It really wasn’t like that. We reached 13,500 ft and the big door was rolled back. There were four experienced solo jumpers and then me to go, Jeez do they move quick. Everyone slides forward and it happens quickly, I was in the middle of thinking “ off the seat,instructor sits, I dangle, then we go” when we were out of the plane whilst I was still in mid “ I dangle” part of the thought. Its cold and its strong and it feels as if you are tumbling initially. As it was cloudy all I could see was white, it was rather disorientating but not scary. It did whip my breath away but we had been shown how to deal with that easily. Once the instructors arms appeared in the white in front of me I was allowed to put my arms forward also. What an exhilarating experience. Bloody fantastic. I was whooping and shouting out. If you have ever toyed with the idea of doing a jump don’t think about it anymore, GO DO IT is my recommendation. Most of the freefall part was in the cloud, the canopy being deployed is a bit of a jerk upwards but nothing nasty and is followed by just floating through the air ~ brilliant, relaxing, full of freedom feeling. The instructor showed me how to steer and I was swinging from side to side like on the best theme park ride ever. More whooping and screaming and shouting out about how fantastic it was, half of Oxfordshire must have heard me. Coming into landing is not scary either as it is a very gentle approach, the ground is not rushing up to meet you and it really is just like stepping down from a low wall or similar. What a rush. When I had been detached from Jeff my instructor I gave him a big kiss and said “ I want your job. I’d love to do this every day.” I felt light and fresh and on top of the world.
I would like to do this again on a day with no cloud so I can see the ground from the moment I leave the plane. I will jump again but the British weather I have no control over.
My next challenge is to walk on hot coals. This is not something I have hankered after doing for many years. I am taking this challenge on the evening of Sat 25th August at Hearing Dogs HQ here in Buckinghamshire. There are others also taking the challenge at this time. If you are able you could come and watch me if you like ~ you would have to ring Ruth Dunkin at Hearing Dogs to let her know numbers though (for health and safety reasons). After that I will be swimming with sharks in September which is a real personal challenge as I am a claustrophobe and have to be under water for over half an hour. You can sponsor me here, it is safe a secure to do so and the monies go directly to
. . . . . ." Until what? "
Until I am jumping out of a plane at 10,000ft.
" Why would you want to jump out of a perfectly sound plane? " some may ask.
I am doing it to raise funds and awareness for the Charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.
Plus it is something I have fancied doing since I was about 16. I am quite excited about it.
Please sponsor me here: http://www.justgiving.com/KarenLawe
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People selects dogs mostly from rescue centres and trains them to alert a deaf person to everyday sounds around the home such as the doorbell and the alarm clock. http://hearingdogs.org.uk .
I have been involved with this charity for about four years now as a volunteer in many aspects. I have walked the dogs in training and in assesment kennels, I have been a full time puppy socialiser for most of those four years, I give talks to help raise awareness of the charity, I assist at events and with the task of mailouts.
This year is Hearing Dogs 25th Anniversary so I thought I would take on a few challenges to raise some money for them. Aswell as the parachute jump on 12th July I will be walking on hot coals on 25th August at the charities HQ in Buckinghamshire and swimming with sharks at The Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire late in September. The last challenge is a real personal one for me as I am claustraphobic.
Take a look at my sponsor site, it is safe and secure to donate there. If you look please tell others to do the same, a few quid from everyone soon adds up.
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