John takes on Australian skydive in aid of hospice

A Clayton-le-Woods man completed a skydive in Australia last month, for St Catherine’s Hospice.

John McDonald, undertook the 13,000ft free-fall in Queensland, Brisbane.

He said: “I wanted to do something challenging and scary, and at the same time raise money for the hospice. I was visiting my daughter and her family for Christmas and thought why not take the jump in Queensland –my eldest granddaughter Jade also completed the jump with me.”

In May 2014, John’s wife, Gean was diagnosed with a stage three brain tumour, glioma. Following her diagnosis she attended the Day Therapy Unit on a Wednesday and stayed in the hospice in February 2016 for four weeks.

John commented: “My skydive was an awesome experience and gave me a great buzz. It was fantastic knowing I was raising money for the hospice at the same time.

“The hospice was fantastic, the staff are so caring and I couldn’t have hoped for anything better in my wife’s last few weeks. I thought when  Gean was admitted that she was going there to die, however the staff and her consultant, Dr Fletcher, were so amazing with her treatment it meant that she was able to came home and gave her an additional six weeks prior to her passing.”

St Catherine’s fundraiser, Emma Jacovelli, said: “It takes £5.2m to run St Catherine’s Hospice each year. We’re extremely grateful to John for raising £1,000 for the hospice, with his support we can continue providing care and support for local people when it matters most.”

• Find out more about how YOU could skydive for St Catherine’s by clicking here.

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