Brothers jump for cancer

Brothers Kayden and Cory Trusler have had no shortage of adventure during their young lives.

Bungy jumping, mud karting in Rarotonga, and hitting a 90-degree angle on a box swing, are just some of the things Kayden, 12, and Cory, 10, have on their list of adrenalin hits so far.

On Sunday, they added another by jumping out of a plane after raising $4000 for Cancer Society Nelson Tasman in the name of their Nans, Yvonne Harvey.

Nans was diagnosed with cancer last year, so the brothers jumped at the chance to help people in a similar situation, literally.

They both say they felt really “sad” when they heard about her diagnosis and are still emotional to talk about now. But Nelson Intermediate student Kayden says it feels good to be able to raise money to help people in a similar situation.

They didn’t think twice when signing up for the annual fundraiser Jump for Cancer which challenges participants to raise $1000. If they reached the target, they got to jump out of a plane for free thanks to Skydive Abel Tasman.

Kayden and Cory thought they would raise the bar and aim for $1500 each. They smashed their goal, raising more than $4400 combined. It was third time lucky for the boys when they headed to Motueka on Sunday.

Originally scheduled for last Sunday, the weather delayed their jump to Tuesday. There were worries that Cory would be too small to jump, but after a harness fitting at the Motueka Aerodrome on Tuesday afternoon, they were ready to go – but then the wind picked up.

Surrounded by family members they climbed into the plane on Sunday morning and headed up to 10,000 feet. They were each wearing hoodies with ‘Cancer Sux’ printed on the front and ‘Love you Nans’ on the back.

Cory, who was the first one out of the plane, says he felt the wind as soon as he jumped.

“My favourite bit happened straight away, that was the free fall, it was the best because it gave me a big adrenaline rush.”

Kayden was allowed to take control of the parachute by pulling on the levers and he says that was his favourite part.

“I was a little scared,” Kayden admits.

But the pair were all smiles when they got back on the ground, with a big hug for Nans.