I wanted to bungee jump ever since I saw it for the first time on tv. On 4/9/2005 I got my wish. A huge entertainment park here in Athens allows jumping from a 58 meter high steel tower.
After I signed the consent paper, an entire team of guys with tattoos on their arms and thighs (which were the size of pine logs, btw) congregated around me. They inspected me carefully, they weighed me (92kg), they strapped my ankles and waist using quick and calculated moves and then they let me wait strapped in a mini elevator to think carefully about what I was about to do.
(I suspect the waiting is part of the testing process to see if the prospective jumper freaks out during the time one has to think about the crazy thing one is about to attempt)
Then their leader and me went up in a mini elevator 58 meters above ground on top of a steel tower custom made for the jump.
The chief jump master gave me instructions: "I will count from 5 backwards to 1 and ONLY THEN you jump. You will be scared but don't worry, this is normal".
Looking at the entire city below from 58 meters above ground and ready to fall is not for the meek, I'll tell you that.
Can you say FEAR OF DEATH? Yeap. It's there. Nothing matters for a couple of seconds. Whether you have a job, wife, girlfriend, mother, father, kids, money or dependents, it's all irrelevant prior to jumping.
They also don't refund your money if you don't jump. So I thought I might as well enjoy myself, so I opened my arms in a symbolic gesture of embracing the incoming Earth and rushed downwards.
The last thing I remembered was his last words: "What you will feel is REAL. Enjoy it!"
There was loss of consciousness for 2-3 seconds immediately after I jumped (probably because of the zero gravity). In other words I cannot recall the first 3 seconds right after jumping. I regained consciousness probably somewhere near the end of the first fall. I was conscious however throughout all the subsequent pulls and falls.
You wouldn't believe the adrenaline and dopamine rush. It's like you are literally flying!
After 4 or 5 backward pulls I was slowly lowered to the ground. I was a little disoriented after landing, but overall, this has got to be the most extreme thing I've ever done.