Freefall

When my friend Pete suggested we skydive for the Charity ActionAid, my stomach had butterflies for weeks. Armed with false bravado on the day, I happily let myself be clipped to my instructor, legs strapped togther with parcel tape. We slid along the bench towards the open doorway of the plane, the other occupants giving me strange Mason like handshakes before they slung themselves out at 13,000ft. There was no going back as my instructor stood up, me dangling from his chest.
I don't remember the Photographer pinching my nose, or the instructor pushing my chin up. All I remember is the roar of the wind as we exited the plane and that horrible falling sensation, where my stomach ended up in my mouth. The first few moments were really quite terrifying, as we plummeted at 120mph towards the ground. Then the small drone opened to slow our descent, and I could put my arm out to shake the Photographers hand, thrust towards me in freefall!
We were in freefall for 1 minute, but it felt like a lifetime. The moment the parachute opened was bliss and I really enjoyed the quick turns we had to do to lose height to land. Lots of hands reached up to catch me at the dropzone and I was gently lowered to the ground, speechless.
I'd just had the most exhilerating experience of my life, to change someone else's.

http://www.myactionaid.org.uk/lizmcternan/tandem-skydive

Fun on the water

Keeping to the theme of sitting down, I've just spent a brilliant week with BDWSA (British Disabled Water Ski Association) in Nottingham. The guys and gals there are first class, a great bunch of people, all volunteers who help everyone, regardless of disability, have a go on the water. I am completely hooked!

Welcome to Grems life!

Confronted with an empty space to fill, I sudddenly don't know what to say. I'm a blogging virgin, you see, but I set my students the task of setting up a blog to express themselves and improve their communication skills, so I thought I'd better try it first. I don't always live in a classroom. This picture shows me learning to sitski in Colorado in February. I was crap, but there were some interesting people along for the ride and some yummy snow boarders to oogle at. I won't be training for the next Paralympics though...