On the International Day of People with Disability, the sky is not the limit

Greg, how did you get into indoor skydiving?

I was diagnosed with spina bifida at birth but was fully able-bodied through my youth and played all kinds of sports. At 30, my body decided it had had enough, and I transitioned into a wheelchair a couple of years later. I thought my dreams were no longer possible, including skydiving, but then I discovered iFly indoor skydiving about four years ago now. I still haven’t ticked an actual skydive off my bucket list yet, even though the instructors have said they’ll figure it out for me. Even at iFly, for people living with disability, instructors need to work out what works and what doesn’t for each person. We have a motto: ‘Fly your body your way’. I’ve been a bit of a test dummy for the instructors, which has been fun.

What do you love about being involved in indoor skydiving?

For me it’s about being involved in a sport that anyone can do, not a disability-specific sport or activity. They’re not modifying the sport for me. The only difference between a flight for an able-bodied person and a flight for a person living with disability is that there are two instructors in the tunnel for a person with disability. Everything else is exactly the same.

It’s also amazing to be part of because of the joy on everybody’s faces – the flyer as well as the spectators. I love jumping into the tunnel and having people say, after, that they hadn’t realised it was an accessible activity. Then word-of-mouth spreads.

How popular is it as an all-ability pastime?

Well, when I started four years ago, they used to have an all-abilities day about once per quarter at iFly Downunder in Sydney, whereas now it’s the last Sunday of every month (last Thursday of every month on the Gold Coast). Over the past 12 months, it’s been completely booked out. Sometimes it’s booked out weeks in advance.

What do you do when you’re not skydiving above a giant fan?

I work for Disability Sports Australia, where we organise ‘come and try’ sport days for people living with disability. I live in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney, where I’m also assistant treasurer at the local rugby union club, just to give back to the community.

As the International Day for People Living with Disability approaches, what’s the message you’d most like to convey to able-bodied Australians?

I guess, from personal experience, I find some people will dismiss or talk down to people living with disability, but, on the flip side, there are some lovely humans who go out of their way to assist and just offer a hand or a word, which makes the day so much nicer. Like anything, there are good eggs and bad eggs, and in my time, I’ve found there are a lot more good eggs.

Who inspires you?

From the point of view of my being iFly Sydney’s ambassador, I’ve seen a couple of kids and adults that come to the all-abilities event and they’re freaking out at the start. They’re umming and aahing about whether they’re actually going to do it, but we get them suited up, and myself and a couple of the other instructors have a chat with them, if they’re still nervous, giving an idea of what to expect, because a lot of anxiety comes from the unknown. I like to reassure them that it’s all good, and the instructors there, they train the military, so they know what they’re doing. You get two flights, and on the first one, they’re often edgy and hesitant, but then on the second flight, they’re a natural and they come out beaming a big smile, and some of them book on the spot for the next month.

It inspires me and reminds me what I’m a part of and that what I’m hoping to achieve is being achieved, and it’s a worthwhile endeavour.

In my work, I had one boy who arrived at a ‘come and try’ sports day. He had a degenerative hip, so he was in a wheelchair now, but before that, he had been a very active child. He came to our sports day and his teacher said to us at the end that the boy had said it was the most fun he’d had in years. He hadn’t realised that there are sports that could be adapted or that were already fully accessible.

What’s it like to fly? It’s hard to imagine, as somebody not in a wheelchair, but is it amazing to be free of the chair, and to float?

It is. It really is. The way I describe it is that it’s like floating in a pool with an adrenalin rush. Or, if I’m talking to older people, I might say it’s a bit like the old days where you might stick your hand out the window of a moving car, except it’s your whole body having that sensation. I suppose another way of describing it might be that it’s lying on your belly as if you’re going down a rollercoaster.

For me personally, and I hear it from other people that are in wheelchairs, it’s that opportunity for just a few minutes to be out of the chair. It’s a surreal and amazing feeling and I love just being involved in an everyday activity, alongside able-bodied flyers.

Is it true you compete at international indoor skydiving competitions?

I do! They’ve just finished stage one of the indoor para skydiving series. They were running the Australian titles in conjunction, and I came second in that, and fifth overall.

The Australian team are now trying to raise funds to get us to the stages in Europe next year. It would be fantastic to go.

More information

For next Wednesday, December 3 – the International Day of People with Disability – iFLY Indoor Skydiving is giving away 60 free flights for people living with disability in Sydney or the Gold Coast. Bookings can be made online via ifly.com.au/idpwd, or by calling 1300 435 966. 

For information about all abilities events running at iFly Downunder (Sydney) and iFly Gold Coast, go to  https://ifly.com.au/allabilities. 

To support the Australian team for the Indoor Para Skydiving 2026 World Series, click here.