76 years old, 10,000 feet up in the sky, £18,000 raised for charity

But the more he thought about it, the more he realised he wanted to do something to challenge himself. He chose to fundraise for the Anne Frank Trust – and subsequently reassured his children that his will was up to date.

Three days before Duncan’s dive, I met him at AFT’s reception for the launch of their annual report. Oddly, he was very calm about what was coming up.

Duncan getting his harness fitted (photo: FreeFallFilms)[Missing Credit]

“I wasn’t actually scared,” he said later – “and I thought as it approached, I’d be terrified.”

After the jump, he said the most daunting part was when he was aboard the plane, gearing up to jump off.

“The scariest time was when the red light goes on and this roll-up door opens on the plane,” Duncan recounted.

“And then the green light goes on, and people begin to tumble out, and I watch these people falling into space and know that in half a minute, it’s going to be me.”

Duncan disembarking the plane (photo: FreeFallFilms)[Missing Credit]

Duncan said he didn’t scream when he was free-falling – “for what seems like an eternity, but is probably about a minute and a half”.

Then, the parachute opened. “I was blown away – literally,” he said. “There’s an incredible serenity where you’re floating down, looking at the landscape below you in complete silence. It’s an ethereal experience.

“My heart rate was about 130 for a few minutes, and I was absolutely buzzing the whole day.”

In the highlights video of his jump, Duncan says he has “never experienced anything like this in my life” while floating among the clouds.

Since the jump, he has been proudly showing that video to anyone with four minutes to spare, including his grandsons, Freddie and Leo.

“They think their poppa is really cool for doing this,” he smiled.

Duncan on the ground, triumphant (photo: FreeFallFilms)[Missing Credit]

More than £18,000 raised by Duncan’s friends, family, colleagues and patients is going to the Anne Frank Trust, the charity which empowers young people aged between nine and 15 to recognise and challenge antisemitism and other forms of prejudice.

“What normally happens is that adults lecture children, but the unique thing about AFT is that they educate children to teach their peers,” he said. “That to me seemed such an amazingly obvious thing to do, but no one had ever done it before.

“Their results are fantastic,” he continued. “Our only hope is that the next generation has a different mindset from the adults who are preaching hate and bile on the streets.”

With his first dive wrapped up, is Duncan going to be returning to the skies anytime soon?

“I can see why people do it as a recreational sport,” he offered. “I might actually do it again to see how it feels the second time around, knowing what’s ahead of me.

“I wouldn’t do it next week though. I’d wait a bit!”

To watch the videos of Duncan’s skydive, click here, to make any last-minute donations, click here, and to find out more about the Anne Frank Trust, click here.