Best wishes,
Paul & Richard
Virgin Atlantic Flying Without Fear
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Premium courses £267: Heathrow July 10th; Birmingham July 24th.
Ground courses £180: Leeds May 29th; Heathrow June 5th; Gatwick July 3rd.
Children's Course Heathrow July 10th
Hi,
I just wanted to contact you regarding the course I attended on 11th March 2012
I had suffered from panic attacks for 4 years on most forms of transport, including lifts (basically anything I was enclosed in!) after suffering a panic attack on a train that had stopped in between stations for 30 mins. After that the panic attacks seemed to occur whenever the train slowed down/ stopped & when I was in a car stuck in traffic. Up until 2011 I would avoid driving on the motorway & certainly would not drive on there alone. After suffering bad panic attacks on 2 flights & the Eurostar, I avoided travelling far & holidayed in the UK for 3 years. I attempted a flight again, but got as far as the airport entrance & turned around & went back home in floods of tears. 2011 was the first time I had flown for years. I flew to Amsterdam, Italy & Tunisia that year, but I got myself so worked up the night before each flight & whilst waiting to board the plane, that most of the time my heart would be racing the whole way & it was so uncomfortable.
I wanted to attend your course to try & eradicate some of this discomfort & to help me actually want to book holidays going forward instead of dreading them - & your course certainly did that for me!
When I arrived at Gatwick an air stewardess came over to say hello to me & told me she'd just got back from a flight to Hong Kong & how that was 1 of her favourite places to visit. I told her about my boyfriend working out there & that was the number 1 upset of the day!! I feel so stupid now crying at the beginning of the day, but she was lovely & made me feel at ease. She actually ended up sitting next to me on the flight, so I repaid her with Haribo sweets!
The course was good, quite interesting & I actually enjoyed the flight J I found it a bit tough during the day. I got upset when I got there when I found out that the flight wasn't till nearly 8pm, so I kept worrying about it at certain times during the day, but looking back now it was good to make us wait all day & we were also slightly delayed in the departure lounge waiting for our plane to land, but that has really helped me with the whole waiting at the airport experience & if there are delays on flights.
I did it with no Diazepam, no alcohol, no book, iPod, crossword book or scarf over my head & I actually felt better quicker.
My heart was racing a bit when I got on the plane & then a bit during take-off, but I was fine after that. I had a walk up & down the plane & handed out Haribos to my fellow frightened fliers, that I'd brought with me as a reward for doing so well.
My heart was racing a bit when I got on the plane & then a bit during take-off, but I was fine after that. I had a walk up & down the plane & handed out Haribos to my fellow frightened fliers, that I'd brought with me as a reward for doing so well.
During 2012, I then had had flights to Turkey, Germany, Ireland, Spain & Croatia and have been fine on all the flights, even though I have experienced turbulence at times & at some points up to 5 hour delays. From that point on, I have travelled to some lovely holiday destinations including in 2013 my first long haul flights in 14 years to my school friend's wedding in Boston, following by 2 internal flights for a week in the Bahamas & last year 10 nights in the Dominican Republic.
My boyfriend had been working in Hong Kong for 18months from 2011, but I did not have the courage to fly out on my own to visit him – This was the final push I needed to make me attend your course, if he had stayed out there indefinitely, I would've had to fly on my own there at some point. He flew home every 3 months to see me, but on the agreement that we got away to sunnier climates when he did. He is now home for good & we have said that we will visit HK together in the future.
My boyfriend is a keen traveller & 'collects' countries as his hobby – he has visited 97 countries to date & I always used to feel under pressure to book flights that I wasn't comfortable with – Nowadays, it is me 'bugging' him to let me book our next holiday.
I believe it would've taken me years to fly again (if at all), if I hadn't attended your course, so I am very grateful that there was a course that you offered & that everyone running the course was so nice, helpful & understanding throughout the day.
I now keep a list of the places I have visited & the number of flights I have conquered - If I ever get a bit nervous, I look at my list & feel proud of how far I have come. In the last 4 years I have taken 49 flights J
I now keep a list of the places I have visited & the number of flights I have conquered - If I ever get a bit nervous, I look at my list & feel proud of how far I have come. In the last 4 years I have taken 49 flights J
Thank you so much!
Vickie
Vickie Brennan
Ground courses £180: Leeds May 29th; Heathrow June 5th; Gatwick July 3rd.
Children's Course Heathrow July 10th
Hi Vickie, its brilliant to hear how well you have done. I attended my course in April/May 2013 at Gatwick with a refresher in April 2015 as although I went on the flight I didn't fly 'solo' after the initial course. I have had panic disorder & agoraphobia for 24 years and my life has been pretty hard not being able to travel - only having holidays in the UK and not far away from home at that !!
ReplyDeleteI took my first flight a month after the course to Glasgow where I went and stayed at my uncle's house which I hadn't seen for 37 years. I then went on my first family holiday with my children to Majorca in September and yesterday we came back from the Costa Del Sol. I feel so pleased I plucked up the courage to attend the course - I remember everyone clapping when they heard my story on my table of fellow attendees that I was there - which made me think if my fellow sufferers are clapping I must be bad !!
The easy option in life is to be comfortable not taking any risks & I thought I was going to be one of those with a restricted life. But when my children said to me all their friends had been on a plane and when are we going? I had to make the decision to either go whatever that threw at me or miss out.
I can honestly say the course was literally a life changing experience - in fact I was disappointed as the flight yesterday felt too short !!
I hope you have taken a huge amount of pride in yourself with your achievements. I have and it literally brings tears to my eyes when i think about what I have done.
Thank you for sharing your story - and to the Flying without Fear team too for your AMAZING work !!
Best Wishes
Martin
Martin Youldon