Parish of Leatherhead

Jumping for Joy

From the July 2006 Leatherhead Parish Magazine

Mary Cruddas writes: We had just finished Morning Prayer as I heard someone asking about how she could get some digital photos printed off from a disc. They were rather special photos as they had been taken at 13,000 feet. I looked up and asked Joy Folkard about this exciting skydiving feat, wondering how old her granddaughter was. Imagine my surprise as I discovered it was Joy herself who had leapt from the plane to raise money for SeeAbility and to celebrate her 80th birthday, whilst her granddaughter and family watched!

Joy agreed to be interviewed about her amazing day out.

Mary: How did you get the idea of skydiving?

Joy: I saw a programme where people were diving out of an aeroplane and holding hands and I thought how fantastic! I would like to do that. My granddaughter had taken me paragliding but this was much better. Then she went to New Zealand and phoned me to say she had just been skydiving. I was annoyed. I wanted to do it.

Mary: How did you go about making arrangements?

Joy: I saw a poster in the Leatherhead Theatre asking people to skydive for SeeAbility. I was worried I would not get enough sponsorship and that I would not pass the doctor's check up. I need not have worried. My granddaughter got all the family to sponsor me for an 80th birthday present. Many people at St. Mary and St. Nicholas and the Theatre sponsored me and my bank manager was generous, too!

Mary: How did you feel when the big day came?

Joy: I was not nervous at all. I was really looking forward to it. It was exciting going up in the plane with the side door open and then when I jumped out there was a wonderful sense of peace and calm. I thought there would be lots of wind but I was not aware of any at all. I wanted to stay up there forever. I thought this is how God meant it to be, so beautiful and peaceful. I remember a minister saying once in a service "Imagine leaving the pew and going up above the earth and looking down seeing the trees and the forest and no devastation". Here I was doing that.

Mary: Who is that in the photo with you?

Joy: That is the chief instructor. I was not allowed to jump alone because I had not been trained in parachute management, but when we descended to 5,000 feet he opened the parachute and for a while he instructed me and I was allowed to steer. He took control and we landed in a small space. It had ended, but when he gave me a hug and asked if I had enjoyed it I immediately said I wanted to do it again.

It is easy to stereotype people and think we can predict how they will react. Joy is visually impaired and I have only ever seen her with a stick and know she joins in Morning Prayer because she has learnt off by heart the responses for each day of the week.

I had assumed grandmothers watched whilst granddaughters did exciting things. The photo really says it all. The words freedom and joy spring to mind. There is Joy enjoying a taste of heaven. No wonder she wanted to do it again.

Joy will have the last word:

Joy: It was the best birthday present and the best experience I have ever had.