Paul Hickey: Taking plunge leaves me dangling

What drives us to do things when others think you're crazy? Photo / File

Last week I jumped off a pretty sturdy structure and plummeted 47m.

Luckily I was attached to a bungy cord. It was a heap of fun but others looked at me like I was crazy.

What is it that drives us to push ourselves to try these things?

The urge to do crazy stuff is certainly unique in every person, and I'll admit I do have an adventurous streak, but there are certain limits -like I will never skydive.

I don't like flying to start with, so why jump from a perfectly good plane?

I then had some competition winners also do the jump, but they were so close to pulling out, after many minutes of indecision.

They finally did it, and loved it. The range of emotions shown on the day was a rollercoaster but they overcame all the fears.

Others never got close to jumping. All to their own, and we should never ridicule those who won't try something we think is normal or okay.

The recent deaths of a couple of relatively young former All Blacks have certainly hit the country hard.

Many people I have talked to say that the thing that makes it hard to believe is that so-called mystique around our All Blacks that hold them up as near-on indestructible. These two deaths prove that even our sporting heroes are just like you and me.

Like any celebrity death these have garnered plenty of media attention.

While Jerry Collins' death was certainly tragic and united the country in grief, I'm hoping Norm Berryman's passing this week may provide a valuable lesson and wake a few people up - myself included. I am just as guilty as many blokes in only heading to the doc when absolutely necessary. But if even those fit and healthy and just a couple of years older than yours truly can be taken so suddenly, who knows what is ahead?

Must be time for a personal warrant of fitness check.

My children have grown up in Rotorua, and have spent hours inside the mobile classroom of the Life Education Trust, and been guided through various topics by none other than Harold the Giraffe.

The LET team continues to provide an outstanding service to our community, and I wish them all the best this weekend for the "Dunk For Harold" fundraiser event at the Blue Lake on Sunday morning.

This midwinter swim is always a bit of fun, but I will miss it this year. However, two of The Hits team will be there, and they assure me they will actually get in the water. So if you want to sponsor Kat and Shiv, get to our "What's On In Rotorua" page at thehits.co.nz to find out how. Or head out on Sunday morning for the 10am dunk and support all those who are taking the plunge.

Paul Hickey is the host of the locally based 9am-3pm show on The Hits Rotorua 97.5FM. Follow on Twitter @paulhickeynz or at The Hits Rotorua on Facebook.