Diary of an Abseiling Councillor…
On Saturday 27th September, Liberal Democrat Councillor Peter Zyzack joined over thirty brave volunteers to raise money for the Heart of Bristol Appeal. Abseiling down Bristol’s second highest building; the 175ft tall Haymarket Premier Inn seemed a good idea at the time. Here is his account of the day….
27th September 2008.
Woke up early with a knot in my stomach. Tried to go back to sleep but gave up. Checked the Above & Beyond website to see how much was at stake… walked around the house several times thinking through what I was about to do. Not nervous (ha!), not worried… After all I have been in a hot-air balloon several times! (not the same at all.. fool!!)
I am due at the Premier Inn/Avon House for 9.30 briefing, followed by descent at 10.00. I was in the first group of six to be briefed, so we stood around jollying each-other along and getting more nervous by the minute. The lift took us to the 17th floor, where we had to climb a further floor to the roof. Whilst we waited, four of the six announced they had done it all before, two of them ‘loads of times’, so the state of my nerves went up by a couple of notches.! The other novice in the group got as far as standing on the parapet (another ten foot higher), all roped ready to go, and then declared she couldn’t do it. Reassuring hugs were administered. Would I be able to do it?
Four people went down and the pressure was on. Standing with my back to 175ft of fresh air, a voice in my head said, ‘you are joking aren’t you?’ I went all wobbly and lost all the feeling in my knees. I thought about why I was doing it. I thought about having to pay all the sponsor money back.
The instructor was excellent.
‘Look at me and keep looking at me,’ he said. ‘You are doing well. I have got control of you on this rope, and I can pull you back in at any point’
He instilled confidence in me.
‘You can do it…’ he said. I felt the confirmation is his voice.
I started to lower myself down. (I am trembling just writing this)
About three or four steps down the wall a voice from above called out.
‘Look up for the camera!’
If my mouth could have formed the words, I would have been extremely rude..!
Down I went, desperately trying to remember what I had been told in the briefing. Part of me wanted to look around and ‘enjoy’ the view, the rest of me was terrified. And then something strange happened. I wasn’t out of earshot, but I stopped hearing for a while and concentrated all of my senses on moving down. The difficulty was getting a balance; making progress without going too fast and coordinating my limbs in a sort of rhythm.
Speak to an audience of 2000 from the stage at Party Conference? Easy! Go up in a hot-air balloon? A dream! This? This was terrifying. Here I was, well above the height that I have ever dared to climb on a ladder. Here I was, doing something I never in my wildest dreams thought possible.
Then I heard the welcome voice of my friend on the ground, and two to three minutes later my feet were on the ground, although I couldn’t feel them, or my hands. My fingers had stopped working and I stood there helpless whilst I was un-strapped by one of the crew. I looked up to see the lady, whose nerves had got the better of her earlier, coming down. Everyone applauded. We had all done something remarkable.
I am really chuffed that I have done it, and really pleased to have raised almost £1000 for a really worthy cause. Best of all, my daughter is proud of me.! You cannot know how much those few words mean …
The event hopes to have raised over £5,000 towards the Heart of Bristol Appeal. This will take the total raised so far to over £690,000. The Appeal aims to raise £80,000 to enhance the new British Heart Institute in time for its opening in Summer 2009.
If you would like more information on the Appeal or how to get involved, please contact Lucy Smith on 0117 927 7120.
