The 'Naked Jumper', since her identity is still respectfully protected, shared a sneak preview of her exclusive story for the first time with the Mossel Bay Advertiser and thus afforded the public a glimpse of the rare footage, not all fit for publication, for obvious reasons!
The jump attempted in 1991 from the Gouritz River bridge was awarded with a special certificate given only to those dare devils who perform extreme jumps. The Naked Jumper's brother was working on the bridge as part of the Kiwi Extreme crew during the eventful weekend back in 1991. She dearly wanted to do another jump before the day was out and, as rain was moving in, the tourists took off, leaving only the Kiwi Extreme crew behind. After having her request initially turned down by the jump master, she turned on her feminine charm knowing that topless girls often earned free jumps. Therefore she surmised that offering to jump naked would undoubtedly hit the mark.
"Bungy jumping leaves you feeling on top of the world," the Naked Jumper said on presenting the evidence to the Advertiser. "All your fears, anxieties and low self worth falls away and you feel all powerful, because conquering fear is such an amazing thrill."
Although a seemingly frivolous act at the time, the experience of conquering fear equipped the Naked Jumper for a much tougher quest in life. In 1995 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and made a pact that, if she survived the first five years after treatment, she would someday, somehow share her life-changing experience publicly. Both her parents since have passed on, her siblings are abroad and she finally feels comfortable 'letting the cat out of the bag'.
A prominent South African sports magazine is set to publish her full story 'warts and all' later this year. However, inspired over the weekend by the CANSA Shavathon that took place on 3-4 March, she decided whilst visiting Mossel Bay that it was time to start sharing her story as part of pledging her support towards a breast cancer awareness campaign.
"As a breast cancer survivor, I would like to extend a hearty thank you to all those who gave of their time, effort and even their hair to this worthy cause," said the Naked Jumper. "I would like to appeal to everyone fighting cancer to keep up the good work."
And so, a spur of the moment decision solely made for the thrill of it, becomes a testimony of bravery and a message promoting the conquering of all her fears - even the fear of cancer.
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Three, two, one….bungy! There she goes plummeting down wearing only …a bungy rope and her (compulsory) shoes!
