Eastwood postman takes 'leap of faith' to raise £1,400 in memory of girlfriend

Oliver Tanner reached new heights as he took part in the skydive at Langar Airfield on Sunday, May 28, to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

The 34-year-old postman, who does his regular rounds in Nuthall, said the skydive was part of a ‘bucket list’ he created with his late girlfriend Laura Barker, who sadly passed away in January.

He said: “I made us a bucket list of 75 things we could enjoy doing together and now I'm spending much of this year completing the list with some help from family and friends.

“Though skydiving wasn't actually on the list, 'donate to/fundraise for charity' was. And so for some reason, I decided to do the one thing I always said I would never do."

The former Kimberley School student was transported by plane up to the dizzy heights of 14,000 feet, where he jumped out and plummeted towards the ground at great speed before a parachute was released.

He said: “The scariest part was seeing the other people jump out of the plane before me.

“But as soon as soon as you jump it’s such an adrenaline rush and it’s weird because in some ways it doesn’t feel like you are falling – it just feels like there is a giant fan aimed up at you.

“Until you go through the clouds and you can see the ground below, it doesn’t really register how high up you are.”

Oliver, who confessed to being scared of heights, said it was an experience he would repeat again in a heartbeat.

“I’d recommend it to anyone to do,” he said.

“It’s not as scary as you think. As soon as I reached the ground, I just wanted to do it all over again. It really helped me face my fears.”

Langley Mill resident Oliver chose to fundraise for the MS Society in honour of Laura’s friend who suffers with the condition.

He said: “Laura was good friends with a chap by the name of Kane Roper, who was sadly diagnosed with MS back in 2004.

“Though we've never met, I've been in contact with Kane online over the last few months. Anyone who was a friend of Laura is a friend of mine.”

The determined fundraiser originally hoped to raise £500 for the cause but has managed to drum up a whopping £1,400 – smashing his target almost three times over.

Oliver is now on a mission to complete the rest of the bucket list, including taking on Europe’s longest zipline, a hot air balloon ride and going to a festival.

Along with the skydive, Oliver has already climbed Scafell Pike – the highest peak in England, been on a city break to Dublin and driven an Aston Martin and Lamborghini this year.

Anyone wishing to contribute to the skydiving fundraiser can still do so at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/oliver-tanner