Student hero takes charity fundraiser to new heights.

Aleena Iftikhar
A student from the East Midlands made headlines for rewarding reasons as he completed a 300 foot bungee jump in aid of Cancer Research UK.

David Robson, 20, from Mansfield in Nottingham, embarked on a five-week journey filled with dedication, hard work and perseverance in a bid to raise a life-changing amount of money for one of the UK’s leading charity organisations. “I researched the jump on the Net and decided to go for it.”
Raising more than £550 for his chosen charity before the actual jump was overwhelming for David, better known as Dave. Initially having an expected target of £300, he expressed his delight at the amount that had been donated: “To have a target and beat it by that much is a great achievement for me. I didn’t ever think I’d get that much, to be honest.”

Despite raising more than he had expected, Dave’s journey to raise the maximum amount of cash was not always easy. Facebook and other social networking sites helped Dave to get the publicity he needed. “I had raised a lot of money when people first heard about my jump via Facebook and I had a couple of weeks of many donations. But as I entered the third week, it quietened down and I didn’t get as many sponsors as I would have liked.”

The Information Technology student from Nottingham Trent University was kind enough to invite me along to share his day of achievement.

As the day of the jump arrived, a nervous-looking Dave was Manchester bound on a train with three of his closest friends, Ravi Lad, Paul Crane and Punam Mistry, there for support.

To his supporters, Dave’s nervousness and quiet mood was highly visible, as fellow course mate Ravi told me later, “He seemed really nervous and scared. He wasn’t talking much with his hands in his pockets, probably to make sure the sweat off his hands wasn’t falling on the floor!”

Upon arrival to the destination at Manchester’s Salford Quays Water Sports Centre, Team Dave was eager to get to the core of the action. A very frightened Dave appeared terrified. The jump, which was being carried out by the UK Bungee Group, was in Manchester for a period of two days before moving onto other locations in the UK. “We carry out the jumps in a variety of locations and do jumps off bridges and cliffs as well as the type of jump we’re doing here today.” Said UK Bungee employee Sarah Hunt.

Dave was to carry out his jump at the top of a yellow crane which was placed over the water. Many were present for the bungee jumping experience for a number of different reasons from the adrenaline rush experience to birthday gifts and wedding surprises.

Also doing their bungee jump were Manchester couple Mark and Kelly Davy. The couple were taking part in a tandem bungee jump which requires two people to jump together. The experience was given to them as a wedding present not long ago. After their jump, they said: “It’s very scary until you jump and don’t have room in your mind to be scared anymore; you just have to go for it. I think if I was doing it on my own, I would never have gone through with it.”

Marked number 73, Dave was a man of limited words as he sat to endure the waiting game which he later described as “the worst part.” As the atmosphere was filled with fear, excitement and mixed reactions on a sunny day in Salford, Dave was about to take the step into the box which was going to transport him 300 feet into the air to free fall in the name of charity.

“When I got in the box, I was thinking 'why the hell am I doing this?!' but the Jump Master in the box explained everything on the way up, but was also taking my mind off it by asking where I was from and what I did.”

As his supporters looked, nervous for Dave but excited to see his face when he fell from the top of the crane, the brave Mr. Robson free fell from the sky resulting in an uncontrollable roar at precisely 15:47. The satisfied and ecstatic expression said it all. He told me afterwards of the relief as he came back onto the ground. “It wasn't as high as I'd expected it to be… I was amazed that I'd actually jumped rather than being pushed and was still buzzing from the adrenaline rush.”

After collecting his certificate of completion, Dave posed for photographs as he beamed with joy at completing an extraordinary experience for the charity of his choice. It was important for him to carry it out as he expressed how the subject is close to the hearts of family members who will no doubt be proud of the Mansfield-born superman.
Close friend and fellow student, Paul Crane, expressed his delight at being present for Dave’s big jump. “I had to make sure he actually went through with it! He's a really good friend, and the fact that he managed to raise over £500 for Cancer Research was absolutely amazing, I just needed to see it!”

The journey for Dave does not end here as he hopes he will continue to raise a larger amount of money having now completed his jump. Needless to say, his hard work and brave efforts will help Cancer Research UK in their developments to prevent and control the illness. Well done, Dave!