Gill Rose
HIGH-FLYING Gill Rose experienced the thrill of a lifetime by making her first ever parachute jump.
Gill made the jump recently, and has helped to raise hundreds of pounds for the Countess Mountbatten Hospice in Southampton. It was there that Gill's husband Chris spent two separate weeks before he died.
"The staff and volunteers who work there were great with him and treated him with the utmost care and dignity," said Gill. "It was those little extras that are funded by the charity that made such a difference to his time there and to me, particularly in his last week of life."
So it was up, up and away for Gill to raise money for a cause close to her heart, and here are her reflections on an amazing day...
Well I finally made the jump! It was touch and go as to whether or not we would jump as it was very cloudy all day, but at the end of Bank Holiday Monday afternoon the cloud cleared enough to go up so it was all action stations (and not much time to think about it!).
I still can't believe how calm I felt in the plane as I looked down on the world below! I was the first tandem jump out of the plane (I actually offered to go first!). I cannot describe the feeling of falling through the air at 120mph with the noise of the wind blocking out my "oh my god!".
The exhilaration overtakes any fear, I think my head couldn't quite comprehend what was happening! Once the canopy opened there was silence and you could hear a pin drop as we gently glided down to the ground. It was awesome!!
Would I recommend it? 110%! Would I do it again? Absolutely! It was all over far too quickly.
Thanks to your help, I've raised over £1400 for Countess Mountbatten House hospice.
Thank you so much to all of you who have sponsored me. It has been a fantastic way to celebrate Chris's life and the money will make such a difference. And if you haven't sponsored me yet, it's not too late - go to www.justgiving.com/gillrose
If you are likely to see me soon (Monday or Thursday training sessions) please pass your sponsorship money to me then, either cash or cheque (made payable to 'Southampton Hospital Charity'). If it's likely to be a while before I see you I would appreciate you getting the money to me as soon as possible so I can hand it over to the charity. If you want to send me a cheque (payable as above) please post it to me (most of you will have had an email with my address in it). Many thanks.
If you want to see the unedited preview of the video of the famous flying Stubbie (I wasn't going to miss reliving this one over and over again!) go to www.watchmyskydive.com/gillrose
Thank you so much for your support and sponsorship.
Gill
Click here for photos.