Written by Simone Vitellaro originally published June 5, 2018
I was over 11, 000 feet in the air about to plunge down to earth at 200 km an hour out of a plane. Crazy, I know and beyond exhilarating. You must understand that I will not even walk on the glass floor at the top of the CN Tower yet for some reason, I had this spontaneous urge to skydive.
I randomly posted that I wanted to skydive on Facebook and someone from Skydive Wasaga Beach saw the post, responded and that’s how it all started. Honestly, if Alec had not messaged me, I probably wouldn’t have done it, came up with every excuse in the book, and would have continued to put it on the back burner. He was very supportive, answered all my questions and all I had to do was book it. It took me about two weeks to finally put the deposit down. I literally had to talk myself into it. Once I hit send, that was it, I was booked to skydive on June 26, 2018 at 12pm. The nerves hit me like a ton of bricks once it was official and I wasn’t talking about it anymore. OMG. It was real!!!
The day arrived and I traveled to Wasaga Beach by myself as I could not find anyone wanting to join me. To be honest, I did not want anyone waiting around for me, so I decided to just go on my own.
I arrived at Skydiving Wasaga Beach and pulled up to a trailer. The staff were very welcoming, kind, down to earth, and comforting. It felt “right” to me and I believed that I was meant to do this. Yet, I was afraid knowing I was going to jump out of a plane. I was instructed to watch a 5 minute video prior to my dive, basically saying that I had no re-course should I get injured or lose my life, and that anything could happen during the dive. You would think at this point that I would have said “forget this” and left yet I bravely (somewhat) paid the balance and signed my life away. Once the paperwork was complete, they put a harness on me, took pictures and began recording the experience. During this process, they were so laid back. To them, skydiving is like riding a bike and meanwhile, I’m frightened and thinking “what the heck did I just say yes to.” We get into their van and drove to the hangar. Now, the nerves start kicking in ten times more and I was second guessing the whole thing. I stood around while my tandem diver, Alec, checked his kite and put on his gear and the pilot checked the plane. This made me more confident knowing that everything was checked and double checked before the flight … which means there was a better chance of things going right. “Thank God!”
Alec finally got his gear on and continued to take pictures and record video. It was time to enter the plane and this was when the nerves hit me like a ton of bricks and I was terrified. I climbed into the plane, saw no seat belts, and took a seat on the floor of the small plane. The pilot started the engine and proceeded down the runway and then we’re taking flight into the sky, and I was about to jump out of a plane. I was pretty quiet the entire way up and then Alec started to open the plane door. As soon as I started seeing this happening, I began to hold onto the pilot’s chair because I did not want to go. I looked at Alec and heard him say, “as soon as I put my left leg out, you put both feet out on the step.” I think I asked him to repeat that statement at least five times and then all of a sudden, the time was upon me. He put his left foot out and I put both feet out … beyond afraid at this point and freaking out inside and then I realized we were already falling.
It happened so fast and I experienced a variety of emotions all at the same time: scared, excited, frightened, happy, proud, and completely freaked out. While we were plunging to earth at 200KM an hour, it felt like I was under water and had water going up my nose. This happens due to the immense force of the wind. Exhilarated, I couldn’t wait for Alec to release the kite. Once he did, we started to float and soar and it felt like we were on a rollercoaster. I started screaming for joy and excitement. The view was awe inspiring and beautiful. I was having fun and did not want it to stop.
Just thinking about it right now, I want to do it again. I loved it. I absolutely loved it! The flight went so fast and when I spotted the ground, I knew that I did not want it to end. We landed safely and very gently and once on the ground, I laid down and was grateful to be safe. In my heart of hearts, I instantly wanted to experience it all over again.
This experience was priceless and one of the most memorable experiences I have had. It was out of character for me to do something like this as I typically play safe and avoid risk taking. It was a random idea one day that became a reality and I am so happy I did it.
“Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you” ~ Bethany Hamilton
Go out and conquer your fears … it doesn’t have to be skydiving but go do that thing that you resist. It’s worth it.
