By Ian Duncan

Last updated at 12:01, Tuesday, 05 March 2013

The daredevil spirit shone through for two women who jumped out of an aircraft flying at 14,000ft to raise hundreds of pounds for charity.

Lee Sherriff was strapped to another skydiver for her jump

Carlisle city councillor Lee Sherriff joined mayoress Catherine Wilson to complete the tandem skydives.

The money they raise will be donated to the mayor’s charities for this year – the Carlisle branch of the Alzheimer’s Society and Eden House Children’s Hospice in Durdar Road. Miss Sherriff said it was an amazing experience but admitted to being a little nervous beforehand.

She said: “Once we had a bit of training I realised it would be in tandem with the instructor in control. I was a little bit nervous going up in the plane, thinking about how high we were getting. But once we jumped it was absolutely amazing.”

She added that the freefall part of the jump was the best part.

“Once the parachute came out it was a bit of an anti-climax,” she said. “It was a real adrenaline rush and I would do it again tomorrow.”

Miss Sherriff said she was not sure what they had raised in total but she was hoping to collect about £250.

They took part in the jump from Cark Airfield in Flookburgh in the south of the county.

Before getting into the aircraft they were given around 15 minutes training and the jump involved them being securely strapped to an instructor.

Miss Sherriff said it took just three or four minutes to come back to earth.

She said: “It wasn’t that long at all.

“The worst bit was my imagination to be honest. But everything that I’d worried about beforehand I was given reassurance about in the training session.”

First published at 11:48, Tuesday, 05 March 2013
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk