Pensioner to copy 007 with dam bungee jump (From This is Hampshire)

Pensioner to copy 007 with dam bungee jump

2:30pm Monday 17th March 2008

• Print
• Email
• Share

HE might be a grandfather, but pensioner Les Spicer is also Hampshire's very own James Bond in the making.

The brave 65-year-old is taking on a challenge straight from the scene of a 007 film, all in the name of charity and, of course, an adrenaline rush.

In true Bond style, Les will be recreating the opening scene from the 1995 film GoldenEye when he hurls himself off the top of the Verzasca Dam in Switzerland in a daring bungee jump.

In the film, starring Pierce Brosnan, the dam doubles as the fictional Arkangel Chemical Weapons Facility located in the northern Soviet Union during the Cold War.

The grandfather-of-two, from Milford-on-Sea, is tackling the challenge - his 12th bungee jump - to raise money for the Oakhaven Hospice in Lymington.

A self-confessed thrill-seeker, he has previously done ten bungee jumps in the UK, another in Switzerland at Interlaken and a 250ft canyon swing, also at Interlaken.

Les, who used to work in underground communications for the Ministry of Defence and now runs a bed and breakfast with his wife Vicky, said: "I have done bungee jumps before and it's a real adrenaline rush - it's fantastic. It's like you are free-falling from a plane to start with, it's really exciting.

"I'm sure I will be a bit nervous. I'll get that feeling in my stomach when I'm thinking why am I doing this?' It makes you feel like you're really pushing yourself, but the feeling is fantastic."

Les is due to do the jump on April 12 and is hoping to raise £5,000.

• Print
• Email
• Share