A man, who is said to get dizzy just standing on a chair a metre or so off the ground, faced his fears whilst raising money for his ill stepson.
Kennedy News
Josh Collins made the jump last month so that he could help buy his eight-year-old stepson Zach Holland a £13,500 wheelchair that is said to be lifechanging for Zach and the family.
The chair is said to be all terrain and and specially made, and will help Zach get around easier. Zachs mum has had another child since he was born, so it’s difficult to push both children around at once.
They’ve raised over £13,000 so far, but it didn’t come without some hurdles. The jump was cancelled twice due to weather conditions and essential maintenance that was needed on the plane. But, on the 29th of September, Josh bravely made the jump.
Travelling 125mph to the ground, from 10,000 feet in the air, Josh was obviously terrified. But he knew that the 20 minutes of fear was worth enduring for his step son, who was waiting safely on the ground with his mum Laura.
After he landed, Josh said: “I wasn’t really nervous going up because the guy kept talking to me the whole time.
“It was when other people started jumping out of the plane that it freaked me out. I was the last one out of the plane so I watched everyone go first.”
“Initially it was terrifying. Then you don’t feel like you’re falling, you feel like you’re floating.
“Then the guy behind me was waving in front of my face and I managed to do the Zach ‘Z’ symbol with my hands. That was all I could muster until he pulled the parachute.
“Every time I moved my hands it felt like I was moving, it was over really quickly.
“When we landed, the guy unstrapped me and said I could go.
“Zach was waiting at the bottom for me, he gave me a cuddle and said he was proud.
“It was quite emotional to be honest, Laura was crying. I was happy that it was done.”
The family decided to raise money for themselves, after the NHS wouldn’t give Zach, who has muscular dystrophy, a motorised chair until he was completely bedbound.
That’s why, in lockdown, they came up with the idea for Josh to jump out of the plane, as he is terrified of heights.
He explained: “I’ve always been scared of heights. We were strapped to someone so they’re the ones doing everything. I was more going to treat it as a kidnapping, to be honest.
“My fear of heights kicks in at about six feet. If there was a thick plank of wood on the floor, I could walk across it, but if you suspend it in the air I would probably fall off it.
“My head can’t perceive the depth of that distance. My head will focus on what’s down rather than what I’m stood on, and I will just fall over.
“I was scared of the skydive, but at the end of the day it was just going to be a bad time for 20 minutes or so and now we’re going to get Zach the chair he wants.”
If you’d like to support the cause, you can donate here.
