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Skydiving Celebrates Fifty Years
by Bethany Leatherwood
On the day she turned 50, Robin Cole stood at the door of the plane and looked down, wondering if she would be able to do everything right.
Cole's family and closest friends were waiting at the field where she landed.
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From 10,000 feet she could see the world below her - clouds, mountains, three lakes, Clemson University, and the landing spot where she knew her grandkids would be screaming and hollering and cheering her on.
"It was beautiful," Cole recalled later. "I was a little nervous, but I wasn't really afraid… I was thinking this is going to be so good, and I can't wait to see how it feels."
A few minutes later Cole realized her dream - celebrating her 50th birthday by skydiving from thousands of feet in the sky.
Cole came up with the idea about four years ago. She had been diagnosed with cancer. "I had lots of days when I was sick from my chemotherapy, so I had lots of time to lay in bed and think. I wasn't sure at first whether I was going to get well or not, so in several of my conversations with God to make me get better, I kept thinking, "Lord, let me get well because there are a lot of things I haven't done yet." Skydiving was one of the things she realized she really wanted to do before she died.
Her sister couldn't imagine her wanting to do this and thought it would be too dangerous. Her doctor was very concerned, noting that she takes a blood thinner, and if she were to get hurt, she could bleed to death very quickly.
Cole decided to do a tandem jump, meaning that the instructor would jump with her.
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One supportive person was her husband Jimmy, who had jumped more than 600 times as a Green Beret in the Special Forces.
Having cancer had changed Cole's perspective on life. "I knew in my mind, like we all do, that life is short," she said. "We never know when we're going to go. But until you really are facing the possibility that you may die, you really don't stop to think about it very often." Now it hit home that she needed to get busy and do the things she most wanted to do.
Cole decided to do a tandem jump, meaning that the instructor would jump with her. "I felt calm about it. I had faith in the instructor, because he had done it so many times. I would not have done it by myself."
The day that Cole jumped was perfect. It was a beautiful August day, and even though there were clouds in the sky, it was hot.
Cole had to arrive an hour and forty-five minutes before her jump so that she could learn about what she needed to do. It was during that time that they packed the chute and showed her how to get on and off the plane and what to do the minute she jumped."You have to arch your arms and legs a certain way."
But nothing prepared her for the emotions she felt as she jumped. The most fun, she said, was actually before the chute opened, when she was free falling at 120 miles per hour. "During that time you just feel like a bird."
The instructor took her through a cloud, which usually isn't the procedure, but was something that she wanted to do. "I have to say it was one of the most spiritual experiences that I have ever had," she said with tears in her eyes. "It was gorgeous.
The most fun, Cole said, was actually before the chute opened, when she was free falling at 120 miles per hour.
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"He pointed for me to look down inside of the cloud that we were in. And there was a rainbow in the cloud at our feet. And maybe it was a car, but something on the ground was being reflected up through that rainbow, and I kid you not, it looked just like an angel. It was so pretty I cried."
Even though Cole's jump was successful, her landing wasn't perfect. They had told her to pull her legs up and land on her bottom, but Cole worried that this would hurt her back, so she ended up falling on her legs. Fortunately she suffered nothing more than a sore foot for a couple of days.
Cole's family and closest friends were waiting at the field where she landed, all there to congratulate her on her jump and to help her celebrate her 50th birthday in a tent set up for the occasion.
"It made me feel good that I could do something dangerous and get that thrill," said Cole, looking back on that day. "It's not something that people do every day, and I was proud of myself. I guess I just wanted to do something at turning 50 that would be memorable, that I wouldn't forget. I don't think I'm going to forget that!"
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