A FORMER special forces soldier literally lit up the night sky when he jumped out of a plane for a unique stunt.

Hereford’s Dane Kenny was turned into a ‘human firework’ in a pre-recorded parachute jump to help tonight’s BBC One Show celebrate Bonfire Night.

A total of 48 flares were strapped to the daredevil’s arms and feet before being ignited as he fell to earth from 11,000ft.

One Show bosses contacted Mr Kenny, who was in the special forces for 32 years, after seeing him appear in the BBC 2013 show Operation Cloud Lab: Secrets of the Skies.

“They called me asking if this stunt could be done,” said Mr Kenny. “They had televised daredevil stunts before including the human cannonball so wanted to know what else could be done.

“They came up with the human firework coming from the sky to the ground and asked if it could be done. My reply was that anything can be done if you do a risk management.

“I was nervous that it wouldn’t work visually for the television cameras but I knew the emergency procedures were good so wasn’t scared.”

Despite the skydive being highly dangerous the man from Whitecross did not fully rehearse the move until the cameras rolled.

He said: “I did a few rehearsals but we didn’t get the equipment together for a full dress rehearsal and when I did the jump it was a lot more dangerous than I thought.

“We had to change the placings of the pyrotechnics as the original plan was just too dangerous.

“The stunt has never been done before and involved 48 flares with 12 on each foot and arm.

“For safety reasons I had to let the flares off on my arms while in freefall and make sure they had all gone out as if they were still burning they could have set the parachute on fire.

“I didn’t realise the effect the flares on my arms would have on my vision as I couldn’t see the altimeter to show me how high I was and instead I had to rely on the use of an audio version.”

Mr Kenny now works as a security consultant in Hereford but has not ruled out any more death-defying stunts.

He added: “I have no immediate plans for anything else but if somebody says let’s do this or that I, might do it.”

  • Tune in to BBC One at 7pm tonight to watch Mr Kenny’s stunt.