On the 16th of April 2011, I jumped out of a plane 2.6 miles up; it was one of my 18th birthday presents. I chose to raise money for CRY in memory of my friend Sam, who died in 2008 from an unforeseen heart condition. At the time his family asked for donations to CRY and now I hope that the money I have raised will go towards continuing to help so such tragic occurrences happen less and less.

On the day of the jump, my family and I arrived at RAF Weston on the Green and checked in with an instructor. He told us to meet back in ‘the hangar’ in 20 minutes and we nervously waited outside. I couldn’t stay still as, although my pride wouldn’t let me admit it, I was extremely nervous.

When the call came a group of jumpers and instructors met and we were led through the protocol and procedure of the jump by the main man, Paul. He was and RAF instructor and had been jumping for 16 years so I was very glad when I found out he was going to be the guy who was strapped to me as we fell.

We moved swiftly onto the plane and we climbed to 2.6 miles above ground. I was told I would be given a signal then pushed out of the door. However as I hung off Paul, out of the plane with no contact to it, facing the ground over two miles below, struggling to catch my breath in the wind I felt no such signal. As I fell, the adrenaline rush was huge and truly was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

I was lucky enough to have a camera man jump with me and the distraction of having to ‘smile’ for the camera meant that the free-fall seemed to be over in seconds. Paul allowed me to steer when the parachute opened and we spent a couple of minutes zipping about the sky. After landing I had a temporary hearing loss but the money raised and the feeling of achievement has far outlasted that.

A brilliant experience in memory of a brilliant mate.

Harry Palmer

Harry managed to raise £248 for CRY