The real-life Milk Tray Man!
Ex-Para bids for record with 131ft leap... with no parachute
IT LOOKED like something straight out of the Milk Tray Man’s repertoire of romantic stunts.
But when John Bream leapt from a helicopter into the sea 131ft below yesterday, he had far more in mind than surreptitiously delivering a box of chocolates to a lady.
The ex-Paratrooper, 34, was out to make a splash by breaking records – and raising awareness for Armed Forces’ mental health charities. Nicknamed The Flying Fish, he plummeted feet-first for about four seconds at 75mph into the Solent off Hayling Island, Hampshire.
Mr Bream believes he has set a world record for the highest freefall into water from an aircraft, and a record for the highest jump into British waters.
The stunt could have resulted in severe injury or even death, but thankfully, the former soldier got it right – and gave a cheery wave after being picked up by his support boat. Mr Bream, who was taken to hospital for a check-up afterwards, said it felt ‘amazing’ to have completed the jump after 18 months of training.
Explaining his technique, he said: ‘It had to be feet-first, you would break your neck with anything else. If my arms were out when I landed then they would break. The water can absolutely rip you in half – a belly flop would probably be death.’
Paramedics believe Mr Bream, who served tours in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland, might have suffered a slight concussion. Although he was conscious throughout, he said he couldn’t remember being pulled from the water.
The father-of-three from Bedhampton, Hampshire, hopes to jump from 200ft next time. That would beat the world record of 192ft 10in set by Swiss daredevil Lazaro ‘ Laso’ Schaller when he leapt from a cliff in 2015.