Grabbing life with BOTH HANDS

Determined to find happiness, Elaine Batho decided it was now or never

- FRANCES LEATE

The tiny plane rattled from side to side and the cold air from the open door made my jumpsuit flap in time with my heart, which was beating faster than ever. It was October 2016, and I was about to do something I never thought I would. Something so far out of my comfort zone that I could barely believe it was happening. I was about to throw myself out of a plane towards the hills below.

As the skydiving instructor strapped himself to my back, I kept telling myself over and over that I couldn’t do it. But before I had a chance to back out and be taken back to land, he’d bundled me towards the open door, nothing but clouds and blue sky in front of me and a 13,000ft drop below. He tilted forwards and we tumbled out of the plane together and in free fall. I felt a surge of pride and exhilaration as I looked on in awe at the views below.

I’d come a long way from the anxious, shy and unhappy person I had been a few years earlier. Working in a busy job in hospitality, it had been stressful and demanding and I had little time to ever think about myself or what I wanted out of life.

Reaching a milestone

Four stone overweight, I drank heavily, smoked, and never got enough sleep. It all began to take its toll.

Single, with the feeling that life was passing me by, I was incredibly unhappy. Yet to friends and family around me, I became a master at disguising my emotions. Leading up to my 40th birthday in 2011, I arrived at my parents’ house for dinner feeling lower than ever. I just didn’t think I could manage another evening pretending to be happy when really I felt the complete opposite. So, before knocking on their front door, I got back into my car and drove home, phoning them later to make my excuses.