WHEN 85-year-old Mervyn Jeffers let slip to his family that skydiving was on his bucket list of things to do, little did he realise that they would actually rally round and organise it for him to mark his milestone birthday.
Speaking to The Southern Star, Mervyn said the next thing he knew was that his four adult children organised it for him to go the Irish Parachute Club in Offaly last weekend.
Mervyn Jeffers with instructor Mick Keegan and his daughter Karen Kelly as the pair celebrated their tanden parachute jumps.
‘I couldn’t very well back out then and I decided I would do it for two charities that are dear to me, the RNLI and SCFS (Seafarers’ Christian Friend Society) and so far we have raised over €3,500 so far on iDonate.ie,’ said Mervyn, who has been sailing for many years and has great respect for all RNLI volunteer crews.
He has also been involved with the SCFS for over 50 years, both as a ship visitor to Cork and as a trustee.
His initial skydive on August 8th was postponed due to high winds but he and his daughter Karen finally made the trip to Offaly last Saturday.
‘It was a fantastic experience and I would advise anyone to do it regardless of age,’ said Mervyn, from Bandon. ‘They told me a woman in her nineties had completed a skydive the previous weekend which is amazing.’
Both Mervyn and Karen took part in tandem jumps with each of them attached to separate instructors.
‘I wasn’t nervous at all and when you analyse the whole thing it’s probably more dangerous crossing the street,’ shrugged a modest Mervyn. ‘You absolutely have to trust your instructor because they are in charge and I trusted Mick Keegan who was my
instructor.’
Mervyn revealed that the first thing that struck him when they exited the plane was the noise of the rush of air.
‘You freefall from about 10,000 feet and you can reach speeds of 120 miles per hour. Then Mick pulled the cord at about 5,000 feet and there isn’t a sound then as it’s so quiet. We landed back in the very same place we took off from.’
Now retired, Mervyn had a very interesting career in retail as he and his cousin Peter Jeffers broke new ground on Bandon’s South Main Street by opening the first supermarket in West Cork in 1960.
In later years, he earned a national reputation as a gunsmith through his sports shop, Jeffersports.
