This is the moment Andy Hutton-Young, a coastguard volunteer from Burnham, threw himself out of a plane and plunged 15,000 feet towards Salisbury Plain to raise more than £1,000 for the UK Sepsis Trust in memory of two ‘amazing friends’ who died last year from the illness.
Andy decided to raise money to help raise awareness of the disease and overcome his fear of heights.
He said: “Carol Jones was like a second mother to me during my teenage years and an incredible lady and Gaz Roberts was a work colleague from my days in the military who made everyone smile as much as I did.
“I hate heights and I hate rollercoasters so thought a sky dive would be perfect.”
Andy said when he was preparing for the jump he was surprised that he was not nervous at all, even when others were jumping out of the aeroplane at various heights he felt ‘surprisingly calm.’
He said: “We finally got to my altitude after about 10 minutes and the views were staggering.
“At 15,000ft everything is just dots until you begin to free fall at 125mph and then things get big very quickly.
“It was a strange feeling but what an adrenaline rush and an amazing experience.”
“When I got back down from the 15,000ft jump I said I’d likely not do it again but on reflection, it was pretty awesome.”
Andy believes the jump has cured his fear of heights but he still does not like rollercoasters because his ‘body doesn’t like it’.
He said:“Thanks to so many generous people. I have raised £1,130 for The UK Sepsis Trust which can do so much good.
“This was for Gaz and Carol and it was nice to be 15,000ft closer to them, for a very short period of time.”
A spokesman for the UK Sepsis Trust said: “It’s the work of fundraisers like Andy that allows us to continue the fight against sepsis.
“The funds he raised will help us in our mission to save thousands of lives across the UK by ending preventable deaths from sepsis.”
Those interested in donating to Andy’s fundraising can visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/andrew-hutton-young
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