A Stockbridge man who took part in a charity skydive had a terrifying mid-air fright when his main parachute failed to open.

Chris Swift was taking part in a freefall tandem parachute jump when the main chute became entangled and didn't open correctly. Luckily he was strapped to the back of a professional skydiver who managed to cut the main canopy and release the emergency chute successfully.

The pair then glided safely back down to terra firma and made a perfect landing back at the air field.

Chris says: "We had just completed the first part of the freefall when the instructor opened the main chute and discovered it had become tangled. He then managed to cut the main chute and we started to freefall again before the spare chute was opened successfully.

"Not a lot was going through my mind at the time and I wasn't really frightened because I knew the instructor I had with me was very competent."

Although Chris was the picture of calm, it was a different story on the ground where his mum Sandra watched in horror as the main canopy fell to earth, without her son.

She says: "I nearly died when I saw the parachute fall to the ground without Chris attached to it. My heart was in my mouth when I saw him and I am just thankful it has all turned out for the best."

The 21-year-old from Vale Street decided to do the death-defying jump with his friend Mick Moran, with whom he works at Anderton International in Bingley. They travelled to the airfield near Thirsk, where they received a briefing before boarding the plane that would take them to the drop zone, 10,000 feet above the Yorkshire countryside. It was then a matter of being strapped to an instructor before leaping out into the great wide yonder.

Chris adds: "It was a brilliant experience, certainly something I would do again because the feeling you get on freefall is just amazing."

The two friends did the jump to raise money for the Marie Curie charity which funds work into cancer treatment.

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