"Whooosh! down vertically 240-odd feet at some fantastic speed, hair and skin pulled back with the G-force and I find that although I've got rid of the specs, fear has improved my vision."
Bob is 53 years old and and lives in Rugeley with his wife and two children.
My story is about the Pepsi Max rollercoaster ride and my fear of rollercoasters in general. I have a disabled son who is fearless. He decided he wanted to go on it, and being his dad I had no option but to go with him!
Blackpool Pleasure beach. I've never liked heights or rollercoaster rides, always managing to avoid them. But here I was with my family. My son Matthew, although in a wheelchair, was totally looking forward to this ride from hell: The Pepsi Max, The Big One. So I had to focus on his needs and what I had to do as his dad. The first thing is put all my fears to the back of my mind, look at the start of the ride and see the finish and say 'well, if I can just get from point A to point B it will all be over and done with'. So, after getting into the car the ride starts to climb, up and up and up: 250 ft up onto a flat from which I can see fantastic views--I could even see a light aircraft flying past. I looked at the ride's ups and downs and say to myself 'I can't look at this'. And I take my specs off. Then Whooosh! down vertically 240-odd feet at some fantastic speed, hair and skin pulled back with the G-force and I find that although I've got rid of the specs, fear has improved my vision. I can see everything clearly, every twist, every drop, climb, loop coming at me and I'm thinking 'at this rate at least it should be over very soon'. But it wasn't. It went on for the longest 4 minutes of my life. At some point I was thinking 'surely we must be near the end,' but so as just to get you going it throws up a high loop just before it finishes and comes to a stop. 'I'm still alive!' I thought 'I've made it!...Quick, let's get off!' When I stood up, my stomach was in my mouth, my heart was pounding and my legs were jelly. I turned to Matthew, who had the biggest grin on his face 'That was fantastic!' he said, 'can we stay on and do it AGAIN?!' | 
