Did you ever hear the saying, “hanging by a thread?”

Well… that’s exactly what I was doing while being hoisted 300 feet into the air with nothing between me and the ground. One wrong move and I could have been toast.

Luckily, I was being elevated over a body of water. As I was being raised ever upward, I could see a lone turtle swimming about. It was getting smaller and smaller by the second.

If the chord holding me up suddenly broke, I figured I would make a swan dive into the lagoon below. But as I inched ever closer to the heavens, I quickly realized that it would be more like hitting a cement sidewalk.

Splat! That would be the end of me.

My imagination grew wild as I waited to see the shadow of a giant megalodon swim underneath my exact location. It would be patiently waiting to emerge to the surface with its mouth wide open and eat me and the turtle for lunch. If the string I was attached to snapped, I would most assuredly plummet to my death.

Whether it be Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Jaws or The Meg, I’ve watched one too many movies.

I was actually riding the world’s tallest skycoaster with my favorite nephew, Michael West, at Old Town in Kissimmee, Florida, in June 2019.

I like to live in the moment and do the unexpected. So when I spied the the attraction as we rounded the corner from the many shops and restaurants, I thought it was just the ticket to get my adrenaline pumping.

It was either that or have a massive coronary and be pronounced dead on my descent.

My mind drifted back to our family vacation three years prior in Branson, Missouri, when my nephew Michael and his cousin, Rachael Price rode a skycoaster together.

Unfortunately, I sat that one out. I was content to stay on the sidelines and watch the pair have the time of their lives.

Not really! But it sounded good, didn’t it?

Actually, the reason I didn’t go on the thrill-ride is because of my lower back problems. I was afraid of landing in the hospital in traction. Not exactly the way I wanted to spend my vacation.

Did I still have back problems? Yes! Did I care? No! This time I threw caution to the wind with a roll of the dice and let the chips fall where they may.

Then my nephew grabbed me by the arm and pointed out the qualifications for riding the contraption. It stated that you should not ride it if you had back problems.

I gave him a stern look and said, “Shush!”

I wanted to make a memory with my favorite nephew that would last for the rest of our lives; and I was not about to let my lower back issues get in the way of that.

Besides, this time around I had been working out three years longer than when we were in Branson. I figured my back was strong enough to withstand the perils of skydiving and hand gliding combined.

The $75 registration fee was another matter. I had to push up my chin as my jaw nearly hit the floor; and the employee behind the counter had to pry the credit card from the death grip of my hand.

However, it was a small price to pay to be an active participant in a death-defying feat which I never thought possible only a few years ago. At least that’s what I kept telling myself.

And just like that, my nephew and I we’re off on our great adventure 300 feet above the surface of the Earth.

We had to first get strapped into the harnesses that would hold us in place as we were lifted into the air. Then we walked a long plank out onto a platform in the middle of the pond.

The thrill-ride employees hooked us together with some of the same type of metal connectors I use to hook up the bars, grips and ropes to lift weights at the gym.

I looked sideways at one of the guys and asked if he knew what he was doing. He smiled and assured me that he did. I just hope he was more confident with his response then the park employee that told me the motorized cart would fit into the restrooms at Universal Studios theme park.

We were required to lock arms before being raised into the sky. Once we were soaring through the air, we would be allowed to let go of one another.

I was given one job – pull the ripcord – and I couldn’t even do that. It’s a good thing we weren’t parachuting out of a plane or someone would have been peeling me off the ground like a pancake.

My eyes were bugging out over the fact that we were 300 feet in the air and I was about to hurl. All I could hear was my nephew yelling, “Pull the cord! Pull the cord!”

We were hanging by a thread and I kept saying in response. “I can’t find it. I can’t find it.”

Michael thought they were going to have to lower us back to the ground because I couldn’t pull the ripcord. But, then, I felt the it next to my leg and gave it a quick yank.

Nothing happened.

I could sense the irritation in Michael’s voice when he said, “You have to pull harder.”

So I grabbed a hold of the ripcord as tight as I could like I was holding my hand around my nephew’s neck. Because at that very moment I was ready to give him a what for.

But, then, we were in free-fall and I was hanging on to him for dear life. Just as we were about to smack the water and break into a million pieces, we flew forward.

Michael kept telling me that I could let go of his arm. But it took two times of going back and forth for me to finally release him.

Then with both our arms outstretched, we soared through the air like Superman. It was a totally exhilarating experience. I will never forget the day my nephew and I became superheroes.

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By Mark S. Price

Contributing columnist

Mark S. Price is a former city government/county education reporter for The Sampson Independent. He currently resides in Clinton.