Former rugby player completes 24,000ft skydive while clutching ball

Watch the moment a former professional rugby player jumped out of a helicopter from 24,000ft while holding a ball to raise tens of thousands of pounds for charity.

Ex-Bath centre Iestyn Lewis tumbled through the air just below Mount Everest in the Himalayas at 180mph in minus 30C temperatures to raise funds for Bath Rugby Foundation, a charity supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged children in Somerset.

Mr Lewis described the experience as “the most frightening but exhilarating moment of my life” after completing the skydive in November last year.

“Fear took over as I was 24,000ft up, but I knew there was only one way down,” he said.