I ride a motorcycle which is infinitely more dangerous . I ' ve had a near miss that would have been certain death doing that . I ' ve also been severely injured skydiving , though death was not a possibility on that incident . I don ' t actually fear death . It ' s inevitable . Everyone dies . I fear getting to the point where I can ' t do things I should have done sooner . And I fear being severely injured a lot more . I ' ve served in Afghanistan , albeit on a very quiet tour , but my hope all along is that if my number came up , it would be quick , and not a slow process , or worse a life changing but survivable injury . That said , I ' ve met some inspiring people who ' ve overcome some pretty horrible injuries and amputations and that ' s shaped my view a bit for the better . When I jump I still have that instant of fear , but it ' s overtaken rapidly by the sense that I ' m truly alive and for a little less than a minute in freefall I have complete control of my destiny .