FOUR daredevil women from a Romsey nursing home skydived 15,000ft in a bid to raise thousands of pounds to buy a wheelchair swing.
Trish Moody, Megan Chapman, Pat Mwape and Genavieve Tenge are aiming to raise £4,500 for the swing, which will feature as part of Fryers House sensory garden.
Now, volunteer coordinator, Trish Moody, has spoken of the moment her team took to the sky on Friday (September 18) at the Old Sarum Airfield in Salisbury.
Trish said: "In June, Megan and I were talking about how we could do some fundraising and she suggested a skydive, so I jumped on that idea and got it organised for September 18.
"When we jumped out of the plane we were going 125mph and it was totally amazing; the quietness was great as well because all you could hear was the wind blowing around you.
"Everybody was excited to do the skydive because we were doing it to help other people and that is pretty rewarding, especially since coronavirus has meant we haven't been able to do any fundraising, such as bucket collections."
The 55-year-old from Mercer Way added: "The ability swing will cost nearly £9,000 because it's big, quite a complicated piece of equipment and some of the wheelchairs at Fryers House [in Botley Road] are absolutely huge, which will fit onto the swing.
"We have been talking about having a sensory garden since last year, which is pretty much built now, and I thought it would be so much fun to have one of these swings as part of it.
"The cash for the swing itself has come from the Romsey Lions club so we have to raise money to install the ability swing, which costs almost as much as the swing."
When asked how Trish would feel if they raked in £4,500, she said: "I would be absolutely over the moon because these people deserve everything we can do for them.
"I cannot imagine how they would feel getting on the swing, being pushed and feeling the wind on their face.
"Everybody deserves something special and I would give them everything if I could."
To donate to the cause, visit https://bit.ly/3mIRcht.
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