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Jun 4, 2008 6:45 pm US/Central
1 Man, 1 Day, 100 Skydives To Battle Parkinson's
(WCCO)
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Burkart started jumping at 6 a.m. Wednesday. By noon, he had completed 28 jumps with each round trip taking less than 6 minutes.
CBS
For most people -- even skydivers -- jumping out of an airplane is a big deal. However, Kevin Burkart wants to do 100 jumps in one day all for a good cause.
Burkart started jumping at 6 a.m. Wednesday. By noon, he had completed 28 jumps with each round trip taking less than 6 minutes.
"The pilot reaches over and he opens up this door and when he opens up the door, that means its time for me to jump. I'm not even looking at the ground, really, to determine if I'm in the right spot," said Burkart. "I just put my foot right here ... and I spin out of the plane and jump."
Burkart said he spent almost a year organizing this fundraiser, and has already passed his goal of $40,000 for two Parkinson Foundations.
His father, Gary, was diagnosed in 1999.
"I think Parkinson's is a disease that can be conquered. Stem cell research termination, unfortunately, has slowed that research, but I have a lot of hope that they'll restart that," said Kevin's Burkart's Dad, Gary.
When the weather put the skydiving on hold, Burkart stayed busy by doing media interviews.
He ate and drank in the two minutes it takes to get up to jumping altitude.
Each trip, he lands one minute before the plane lands.
"So I've got a one minute buffer there, where I can switch out my gear and prepare for getting on the plane again," he said.
Burkart said he has oxygen on the plane to keep from getting winded during all the activity and to avoid some of the exhaust from the plane's engine.
Just after 6 p.m. Wednesday, Burkart was up to 75 jumps, so he should reach 100 jumps before dark.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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