On 14th October, Hayley Bushell did a skydive to raise money for CRY in memory of her cousin Alex Reid, who was 16 when she died suddenly on 27th June 2012.
The weather was perfect for jumping from 15,000 feet out of a plane, with clear blue skies and very little wind, so I couldn’t wait to get up there!

After some initial nerves, once I was strapped into my harness I felt extremely safe and my instructor reassured me that all the necessary safety checks had been carried out.

At 15,000 feet the plane door opened and me and my instructor shuffled to the edge. In no time at all, we were flying through the air in a 1 minute freefall drop at 125mph!

The noise was incredible during freefall but when the parachute opened, the contrast was unbelievable. It was so peaceful once the canopy was opened and because it was such a clear day, we could see for miles around. It was beautiful.

The landing was very smooth and I couldn’t wait to run over to my family, who were watching from the spectator area, to tell them how AMAZING that was!

Alex was a very special girl and she always wanted to a do a parachute jump when she was old enough. This one was for you Alex.

We have raised over £1700 for CRY in memory of Alex so far and the total is still rising.

Hayley Bushell