Nottingham skydiver: I've represented Team GB and jumped out of 5,000 planes - but I'm scared of heights!

Laura Hampton, 38, has always been afraid of heights and was scared to climb trees and ladders as a child - but now she has jumped out of a plane more than 5,000 times.

‘Absolutely terrified’

Laura, from Bingham, Nottingham, fell in love with skydiving after having to face her fears in a sponsored event in 2007 - when she felt ‘absolutely terrified’ but said it was amazing.

Now she has represented Team GB, has a world record and is now a skydiving coach and has jumped more than 5,000 times - despite still having her fear. “ You're so high, it becomes a bit more abstract and once you jump you feel like you're floating. You don't have this feeling of falling, which slightly helps.”

Feels like I’m floating

Laura grew up with a fear of heights and still struggles with it now. She said: "I went on a trip with my boyfriend, many years ago now, but we went up the Eiffel Tower and halfway up and I remember how scared of heights I am."

She lived in an airfield after graduating and worked as a parachute packer - and went on to be part of a formation team that became national champions. Laura excels in formative diving in which her and her team make a variety of shapes and sequences mid-air.

World record holder

Amongst being a British champion, Laura is also a world record holder. She was part of a team of 108 skydivers, 18,000 ft in the air. The group became the largest group of skydivers in history to do consecutive sequences mid-air.

"Part of it [the fear] does still get me though as well as when the parachute is open. If I look up and I can see the clouds are flying by and forget how fast I'm going and I think about what I'm doing, you know hanging they're basically held up by string."