Well, it's a week later and there are four comments on my blog.

First of all well done to Linda and Sarah - especially Linda - who had never flown before and had to wait until the end of the day to get up in the air.

I think she speaks for all of us by saying she's been turning it over and over in her mind not to forget it.

Today, I looked at the picture link on the website and all the memories came flooding back. How the hell did I manage to get out of that plane - looking at the ground so far below is beyond me. Below is the link to the picture site - take a look - but ignore the stupid girn I've got on, it's hiding the feeling of - well you know what.
http://www.skydiveairkix.com/My_skydive_pix.php

But I did, we did.

Well done to Sarah, and thanks to all those who have given me support and congratulations since last week.

As for Glennis, hope your holiday was as relaxing as it deserves to be. You've put in so much work and now there's 12 people relying on you next week. Good luck to you all.

I'm now over £800 and will be hoping to get to as near to £1,000 as possible for Crazy Hats. If the pictures make you want to sponsor me, then the address is.

www.justgiving.com/jeremyclifford1

All donations to the charity are really appreciated.

Well, after last week's debacle, it's already that time again for us to try again to throw ourselves out of a plane all in the name of charity.

Come Sunday afternoon, half of us will have risked our lives for Crazy Hats - and will be able to tell the other half just how much they need to be afraid when they come to the jump in two weeks' time.

I'd like at this point to say hi to Stan - who left a comment on my blog this week - a man who is a true legend to journalists - and good to hear from him after so long - so some good has come from this blog.

The other good thing that has come from it is the messages of support and those who have sponsored me - a massive thanks to everyone.

People have been asking me how I have been this week and am I worried. The answer is no - I have put it out of my mind all week - but come Sunday morning..... well let's see if I make it.

Remember, sponsoring me will raise money for breast cancer care. So please go to my site at:

www.justgiving.com/jeremyclifford1

Thanks.

Well, the day has come... and it went... without anyone making the sky dive for Crazy Hats.

Not because of the weather - but because the plane was broken!

Now that really fills me with confidence - for next week when the jump has been rearranged for.

For those who have been following this blog for a bit, and those new to it, let me remind you that I have this huge fear/anxiety about the whole law of physics behind flying. Now there's the basic mechanics of something I hadn't thought of before - what happens if the plane breaks?

But, as I always try to find the positives in life - at least it broke BEFORE we took off.

So, the jump is delayed until next week and a second group who will make the jump on July 19.

But because we were all assembled at the airfield this morning, the instructor took the opportunity to give us the briefing of what we have to do and what the jump will be like.

It was like death by a thousand cuts. Let me relay some of the facts to you...

We will freefall for FORTY FIVE seconds - that will seem like hours I'm sure.
We will start plummeting/hurtling to the ground at 200 miles per hour.
We have a choice how we want to exit the plane - backwards, somersaulting, head first - I wonder which option I'm going to choose.
When the parachtue does open (thankfully, there are three parachutes, so even I feel a bit more confident now) we can take control of the toggles. And one option is to pull one side down so hard we go into a spin and the parachute ends up below our feet! (We are assured by the insturctor it's great fun - I'm not quite sharing that feeling)
And eventually we will land - about seven minutes after plunging out of the plane.
Oh and by the way, if the weather is really good, the plane can go even higher to 15,000 feet - he's not really getting this is he - just take off and get us out as quickly as possible.

On a serious note - everyone who turned up today were disappointed but even more determined to do the deed and raise the money for Crazy Hats - including one woman I spoke to who has never even flown before - I take my crazy hat off to her.

There's now a week longer to sponsor me for breast cancer so if you want to here's a link to my site.

Thanks for reading.

 www.justgiving.com/jeremyclifford1

Well there's just one day to go until the Big Jump - and there's no stopping now - unless my rain dance continues to have the desired effect - sorry if I'm spoiling your plans for the weekend.

I'd like to say a massive thank you to all those who have posted messages of support and sponsored me so far. I have reached my £700 pre-jump target and am still confident of reaching £1,000 by the time my website closes in September. There may be some of you who are holding back until I actually make the jump just in case I bottle it - and I can understand your thinking.

The intrepid skydivers, who are doing this for Crazy Hats breast cancer care charity, all met up last week and shared their nerves and bravado.

There will be much camaraderie on show on Sunday when we make the jump and plenty of moral support. I just hope I'm not the last one to go - otherwise I might find I'll be landing at the same time as the pilot never having made it out of the plane.

So here's to Sunday. Remember if you want to sponsor Crazy Hats by backing me, my website is www.justgiving.com/jeremyclifford1

Thanks again.

A developing thought is growing inside me.... what if we get to the airfield and it's too windy, or cloudy and it's callled off.

All the nervous tension in the build-up to the big day and it could be burst like a balloon.

Now the reason for me thnking like this is not because of the disappointment - oh no - it is because I would have to go through the build up all over again.

I was asked today if I had been thinking about the sky dive - you know, the one from 13,500 feet for Crazy Hats.

What a preposterous thought. I know it is less than two weeks ago today, because someone reminded me of the fact. But for me it is over there somewhere - out of my mind - and will only come into my sight when the time draws near.

So that is why I now have that fear that I'll go through the adrenalin build-up and there'll be no release, just having to go through it again.

Has it happened to anyone else? Let me know.

Don't forget, with just two weeks to go, well 13 days to be precise you can still donate to the Crazy Hats cause by going to my website. It's www.justgiving.com/jeremyclifford1



Thanks.

I learned today that someone I had known for many years has died - of cancer.

He was 64. I suppose that's not that unusual nowadays.

But equally, it reminds me that cancer is indiscriminate in who it chooses. Just last year, another person I worked with and had a great friendship with died of cancer, too - she died so suddenly - and that was a huge shock for me.

Barry was someone I worked with. He was a friend, a colleague and had so much experience he could share to help you make decisions.

He learned last year he had cancer - a year before he was due to retire.

Now he has gone, he had no chance to enjoy a retirement he had richly deserved.

There will be readers of this blog who will identify with Barry and what his family went through.

I don't believe there will ever be a day when people are not diagnosed with cancer. I also don't believe people will stop dying of cancer.

 

But I do believe we should do everything we can to make people who have cancer have all the knowledge, choice and care to be able to fight it with knowledge and dignity.

 

That is why I have decided to take part in the Crazy Hats charity sky dive at the end of this month.

 

It is a personal challenge for me that pales into insignificance against the challenges people diagnosed with cancer have to face.

 

My challenge will just be to decide to jump from a plane at 13,500 feet and trust in someone else to see me safely to ground.

 

People with cancer have so many more choices and challenges they have to make.

 

People with breast cancer need first class care and after care, which is what Crazy Hats is all about.

 

So help me to raise money for them. My website is  www.justgiving.com/jeremyclifford1 Please donate, not for me, but for those people who have cancer.

The countdown has started to June 28 - the day when 25 of us will board an airplane, fly 13,500 feet into the air and, well, just jump out.

It sounds so easy, and so stupid.

I have had some great messages of support, but equally, when I have told people what I am doing, others have said, you are absolutely mad.

There are people I have spoken to who I would have bet large amounts of money on would have leapt (sorry) at the chance of doing this charity jump, who have said, there is no way they would do it.

And how much respect they have for me for doing this. Funny, that's not a word I would associate with doing this thing - but life is full of surprises and so are people.

My message to them is please make it worthwhile and support this charity jump by donating money to the cause.

You can go to my website at  www.justgiving.com/jeremyclifford1 and give what you can - it's all going to Crazy Hats charity now.

And keep those messages of support coming - they will come in handy as I'm plumetting to the ground on June 28, wondering what possessed me to do this, and thinking what I'll be doing to Glennis when my feet touch the ground again - hopefully!