A Jump: Part Two
The Day
He went up in a plane! He came down with a parachute! Evan completed the skydive!
We arrived early at the Fife Airport in Glenrothes on Sunday, knowing that the weather forecast looked inhospitable for people trying to descend over 10,000 feet towards earth underneath a bit of fabric. The British Skydiving wind speed cut off is 23mph, and we were steadily over 30mph with gusts that were much stronger. They went ahead with the registration and training session before deciding at 11 am that there was no point in waiting around for the rest of the day. The wind was too strong and too persistent. We would try to reschedule for the next day.
Evan and I made a second early morning drive to Glenrothes on Monday. The wind speed was better, but it was much more overcast. How much cloud is too much cloud? I didn’t ask. They handed out a brochure titled “Rescheduling Your Skydive” that says in bold on the cover, “Most jumps take 2-3 attempts to schedule.” I fervently hoped we were going to require only two tries.
Shortly after 9 am, the chief instructor—a man who you could tell by looking at him had been a military parachute instructor for 20 years, who another instructor jokingly referred to as “Mr. Sunshine” because his demeanor matched the cloudy skies outside—told Evan that they were going to go ahead with the jump and he’d be the first one out. Soon he was getting into his jumpsuit, doing a weight check, refreshing his flight positions, and tightening his harness. And then off he went into the plane …
WITH NO DOOR!
I know that the point of the skydive is not to stay inside the plane. It should not matter whether there’s a door on the aircraft. But I still found the idea of flying in a plane WITH NO DOOR to be the most unnerving part of this whole skydive.
And then, the jump. After a few seconds they deploy a small white chute that helps bring the speed of the freefall down to about 120mph. Around the 30-second mark, they deploy the canopy (which I learned is the preferred term for the parachute). Evan’s instructor thought it would be fun to bounce through a few bonus clouds and do some extra swinging about before the gentle glide into a perfect landing. Evan said the entire experience was amazing.
The skydive was the incredible adrenaline event, but I actually loved our time on Sunday just as much. These friends who filled up the hangar in Make 2nds Count shirts! These friends who turned up to cheer for Evan! These friends who drove to Glenrothes early on a Sunday because they wanted to be there with us! These friends who represented so many others who have sent donations and words of encouragement and support, not just for the skydive but throughout the past months. On Monday, the skydive was a success, and it was an absolute joy to watch. On Sunday, the support from friends was a success, and it was an absolute joy to experience.
And an update on the fundraising! Evan smashed his goal and raised over £2,500 for Make 2nds Count! That’s dozens of support boxes for patients in chemo treatment, or funding for patients to attend a retreat, or specialist nurse hours to research clinical trials for a patients, or several weeks of a metastatic breast cancer research project. I’m so proud of him, so grateful for all those who contributed, and so thankful for the blessings in this experience.
Enjoy the video of Evan’s skydive!
Congratulations to Evan and a big thank you to you both for sharing everything as you have. To be able to fly with him in the video is a joy as I'd love to do it myself but can't. You and the family are an inspiration. Bless you all so much.
Incredible! Amazing feat, Evan!