Tuesday, July 3, 2012

INTERVIEW: Laura Jumps for Eyes Alight


Early last year we met five lovely ladies (McFlyDares) to were travelling around beloved UK band, McFly, on their Above the Noise Tour to raise money for BIRT's Eyes Alight appeal. This year, I want to add another amazing lady to the generous list of people volunteering for a great cause. I want to introduce you guys to Miss Laura Abbott.

In April this year Laura decided to face her fears and 'jump for Eyes Alight'. That's right, she decided to jump out of a plane and soar through the sky to raise money for this humble charity.


So let's get to know Laura:

What drew you to Eyes Alight?

As a McFly fan, I saw Harry talking about the charity and so I decided to find out more information about BIRT. I discovered what an amazing charity it is and that Eyes Alight makes people's wishes come true. As it was a small charity, I decided I wanted to help out as much as I could. I work as a support worker for disabled adults, so I know how much these sorts of charities can help them.

What was the process of elimination like when you were deciding what to do to raise money?

I always knew I wanted to skydive, so there wasn’t really a process of elimination!

What was the mental prep like? I mean, were there times where to found yourself trying talking yourself out of the jump or were you just so excited that you wanted 'Jump Day' to come ASAP?

I was very nervous about doing the jump as I have a phobia of heights, but I didn’t want to do anything easy for charity – so the skydive was perfect! I had to wait almost a year after booking it because I wanted plenty of time to fundraise money. The wait made me even more nervous! Also, if the weather was bad on the day of the skydive there was a good chance that that I wouldn’t be able to jump. So I didn’t want to get too excited just incase it got delayed, but thankfully weather was perfect on the day!

This jump was about facing your fears, how did you feel when you were about to jump?

Even though I’m petrified of heights, I felt strangely calm on the day. Even when I climbed in the plane I felt very calm - my parents who came with me to watch were my nervous than me!

When you were travelling through the air, what was going through your mind?

I actually couldn’t believe I had done it! It felt so surreal travelling through the air and I felt really emotional because I had conquered my fear and raised so much money for an amazing charity!

If you could do it all over again, would you?

For a while after the jump I was so sure I would never want to do a skydive again, but now I kind of want to do another one!

Leading up to the jump and afterwards, you had an auction going for a signed Saint Kid t-shirt, how much did you raise for that auction?

I raised £460 from the auction! (That's $704.82 AUD!)

What next? Are you planning to do another fear-factor-like experience to raise money for this amazing cause?

I would love to do something else for Eyes Alight. I just don’t know how I can beat skydiving – but I’m open to suggestions!

Now that you've conquered one fear, what would you like to say to people who have their own fears in life?

Never ever let them hold you back. By facing my fear not only did I help raise money for charity, but I also gave myself a much needed confidence boost.

Who would you like to thank most of all for making this experience worth 'the jump'?

There isn’t one particular person; I want to thank everyone who donated and everyone who sent me messages of support. I also want to thank Izzy who set up Eyes Alight and for sending me a lovely thank you message after I did the jump. And of course, I want to thank my skydiving instructor for keeping me alive and not laughing at me when I screamed like a girl whilst flying through the air! ;)



Next on sL: The Amazing Spiderman

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