Reg made the 4.2km jump above Rutherford to celebrate his 99th birthday and help raise money for Telstra Child Flight on Sunday.

“There were quite a few who doubted me, and some who didn’t want me to do it,” Reg said.

“But I was determined to do it and I wanted to do it.”

The nonagenarian didn’t jump unprepared; he’d done training sessions in the lead up to strengthen his leg muscles against wind speeds of up to 200km/h.

But all the preparation in the world couldn’t ease the anxiety of his daughters, Camille Peek and Margaret Straubinger, watching from below.

“My sister Margaret and I were nervous wrecks in the lead up to it,” Camille said.

She said there was concern Reg’s lungs would struggle to draw in the thin air above 10,000 feet, but apart from some hyperventilation, a skin graze and bruise he landed safely.

The jump was Reg’s second skydive, his first was on his 95th birthday to raise money for Ronald McDonald House.

This time around the Forster Bowling Club patron was raising money, and continues to do so, for Child Flight to purchase a new aircraft that is cheaper to run and can negotiate difficult landings.

“My own son, born in 1940 had whooping cough at six weeks. My wife and I nursed him twenty-four seven, so I know what it is like to have a sick child. Back then, we were without any help,” he said.

A film of the dive and day of entertainment scheduled at Forster Bowling Club this Sunday has been postponed until April 11, 2010.

To donate to Telstra Child Flight phone 1800 244 531.