THREE West Devon residents made it third time lucky last Sunday, as they took part in a daring 10,000ft tandem parachute jump for charity. Guy Massey of Ottery, his son Daniel, and Tavistock resident Stephanie Reid finally left the airplane after two previous attempts were postponed due to bad weather. Leaving Tavistock at 6.30am for the skydive they arrived at Dunkeswell Airfield in perfect weather conditions. It took them 25 minutes to climb to the correct height. Daniel and his instructor were the first to jump – Guy followed, but managed to land before Daniel who still had 1,000ft to go. Guy's most memorable moment was seeing his son depart the aircraft and vanish instantly. Daniel's most vivid memories were glancing at the aircraft when he departed and watching his dad flash by him on the way down. Guy said: 'The jump was mind-blowing and then some. It was the most amazing experience ever – absolutely astonishing. 'It was a very surreal experience, the sheer terror that I had expected didn't happen, just a sort of fascination of being out of touch.' Guy said the heroine of the moment though was Stephanie. 'She had only ever flown in a commercial airliner before, and was terrified at the prospect of jumping,' said Guy. 'When it was her turn she shook all the way up. 'But she gathered it all together and departed the aircraft in fine style.' He expressed thanks to all their sponsors who helped them hit their target of £2,000 — although they still need to chase up a lot of their pledges. Guy and Daniel did the jump in aid of the Derriford group of Cancer Research, while Stephanie jumped to raise money for the MIND charity. If anyone would still like to give a donation, contact Guy at Ottery Press Ltd on 01822 611444.
