A New Zealand father who was set to take his 2-year-old son on a tandem sky dive Thursday has canceled the jump, saying there was "too much media hype."
Aaron Marriott, who owns a sky diving company based in Auckland, announced plans Wednesday to jump with Elijah because his son had been asking to do it ever since his older brother took the plunge last year at the age of 3, The New Zealand Herald reported.
But Marriott said he decided to scrap the jump after criticism in local media from sky diving veterans and pediatricians.
Sky diving expert Wendy Smith, who has more than 20 years' jumping experience, said she was very much against a 2-year-old making a dive.
"They still have a problem with structuring and growing of their brains. The free-fall and the opening can cause quite a radical shift of the cerebral fluids," Smith told the Herald.
Developmental pediatrician Dr. Rosemary Marks said that Elijah was too young to understand what he was getting himself into.
"Just because a child asks for something ... adults should have the wisdom to know what's appropriate," Marks said.
