The day started really early, with all of us including our friends and family having to get to Headcorn Air Field for 8am. I think this helped with my nerves as I didn’t have a minute to think about what I was about to do.

We decided to do a parachute jump for CRY in memory of my best friend’s brother, Matt, who sadly died of SADS. Having heard about CRY we (me, my dad Peter, and sister Alice) thought this would be the perfect choice as a charity for us to skydive for.

The nerves definitely got to us in the training before the jump, but we were assured nothing could happen to us – although we were still about to jump out of a plane attached to a complete stranger!

The mood was lifted when all our family and friends saw us in our jumpsuits and hats – they thought it was hysterical which helped take the edge off our nerves!

Up in the plane I was strangely calm, thinking that I must enjoy this experience and not keep my eyes shut for the entire jump!

My sister was so scared but I watched as, one by one, the other parachuters, my dad and sister jumper out of the plane. Then it was my turn.

As we stood on the edge my tandem partner said “Here we go!” and then just launched us from the plane. This was possibly the most scared but excited I have ever been.The feeling of having the ground coming towards you is so exhilarating and I was really enjoying it, when all of a sudden you are catapulted back into the sky. That’s when I looked up and saw the parachute above my head. We then sailed around and I even took hold of the controls to steer the parachute.

As we started to descend I realised I had just done a skydive and actually couldn’t believe how great it had been.

I would truly recommend taking part in a sponsored tandem skydive. I loved every minute of it, and doing it for such a great charity makes all those nerves worthwhile. Having seen the tragedy of SADS, I felt really proud to not only have raised money for CRY but also to have skydived in memory of Matt.

Emma-Louise Hearne