A vicar from the UK completed his first-ever skydive from 14,000 feet to raise money for his church, and performed a blessing mid-fall.
Reverend Gerard Rundell, a vicar from Newcastle, UK, has always had the ambition to skydive out of a plane. Recently, he and his sister Katherine, a popular children's author, decided finally to give it a go.
The skydive doubled as a charity drive, raising more than £2,500 for his church's Family and Children's Worker Fund which supports local children, young people and families.
As per ChronicleLive, Reverend Rundell described the ascent and the view of the surrounding landscape as "beautiful", but said the moment when the door to the plane opened was "surreal".
He jumped out and was freefalling for 50 seconds. Mid-fall, Rundell was challenged by tandem instructor Ant Andrews to bless the cameraman, Chris Brown, who was filming the vicar's skydive.
It was not something the vicar had anticipated. "I was asked to give a blessing to the camera man," he said. "It was a wonderful experience and not something I was expecting at 14,000ft."
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Newcastle Diocese (@ncldiocese)
"Everyone has been incredibly generous," he said. "We are delighted at the amount of money this has raised and it will make a difference to how we support children, young people and families in our community. A huge thank you goes to everyone who has donated. We are very grateful indeed."
For more on skydives, check out our coverage of the record-breaking daredevil skydiver who landed on an active volcano, or Logan Paul talking about how he "almost died" while skydiving.4
