Indoor Skydiving: Teaching BB to fly with Airkix

12 months ago my daughter couldn’t walk.

She was just over two and walking, crawling, shuffling were all actions that I could only dream of her achieving.

Surgery had left her scarred on the outside, and with a tiny, skinny little left leg that looked unlikely to be able to support a bird, never mind a toddler.

In the last twelve months I have watched my beautiful, brave daughter exceed all expectations.  She learnt to walk in August 2012.  I learnt to love her little limp and see it is a mark of her determination.  Jumping followed walking, last month she learnt to bounce on a trampoline.  She then worked out how to run, once again tears fell freely from her proud mother’s eyes.

Then she learnt to fly.

Being a blogger has fantastic perks, one being that I get to review days, trips and new experiences. This time, I got to take BB flying.

We headed to Airkix, in Basingstoke, to sample their indoor skydiving experience.  BB was allowed to join in.  She was dressed as supergirl, made to put funny earplugs in her ears, forced to wear goggles on her eyes, then finally, she happily allowed us to pop a helmet on her head.

With my own ear plugs in I could just make out her saying, “tinkerbell doesn’t wear this.”

Then she flew.

With the help of an instructor I watched my three year old daughter stretch out her arms in a fury of wind and fly like Peter Pan and Wendy.  I whimpered audibly when her leg whipped up behind her, the fear of her breaking still installed within me.  I needn’t have worried, she was clearly fine.

To all parents of little ones with hip dysplasia, take them flying, give them wings.

I also sampled flying and the only way I can describe the experience is to recall a memory from my youth.

When I was small I used to dream of leaping from my sofa and soaring around the room.  This dream was vivid and I can remember the feeling of flying clearly.

When I stepped in the wind tunnel, I felt it for real.  It was awesome.

We left smiling, happy, and in a more emotional state than I thought we would be.

We were invited to try indoor skydiving at Airkix.

Usual costs are start from £29.99, a family flight starts at £156.99.  Please see www.airkix.com for full details and to search venues so you can try flying for yourself.