SPEECHLESS for the first time ever, lifetime polio survivor Tina Demetri landed on Park Beach after skydiving 15,000 feet in celebration of her 80th birthday on Friday 4 September.
“I was absolutely awestruck,” Tina told News Of The Area.
The five minutes of floating through the air went by in a flash, she said, but she does recall her legs flying up and the moment the parachute opened.
“I’ve got very little mobility in my legs so that was a very strange feeling,” Tina said.
“It was all unbelievable.”
On the aeroplane with Coffs Skydiving tandem instructor Jimmy Callaghan, she remembers the roller door opening ready for the jump.
“Jimmy had already told me that we would sit in the doorway with my legs dangling over the edge so I could have a chance to soak in the view and see where I was going.
“It was so exciting.”
On the beach, adjacent the Coffs Harbour Surf Club, a group of 15 family and friends had gathered to wait, watch and wonder where in the sky their adventurous relative was.
Scrutinising the blue sky, a finger went up to point out a tiny white dot amidst the azure.
All eyes followed the dot as it grew into a recognisable canopy intent on a slalom fall, culminating in a swoop onto the sand, delivering Tina safely to earth.
With teary eyes, her husband Eddie said, “That’s just amazing, and I’ve never seen her lost for words.”
Tina praised the care and attention to detail given to her by Coffs Skydiving.
“They were on the ball across everything and couldn’t do enough for me,” she said.
Tina spent the rest of her birthday weekend with her family, celebrating with a BBQ at the foreshore on Saturday.
“Our children Adam and Melissa stayed for Father’s Day on Sunday, which was very good timing,” she said.
By Andrea FERRARI
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