A COVENTRY octogenarian will be braving a daring charity skydive later this month in memory of his son, who was killed in a road traffic collision almost six years ago.
John Cassidy, aged 80, will be taking the leap at Nottingham Airfield on January 28 to raise vital funds for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.
The skydive is in memory of his son John-Paul Cassidy, who was killed following a road traffic collision in April 2018, nine days after the incident.
John-Paul was helped by an air ambulance crew after the accident and his father decided to complete a fund-raiser as a thank-you for their attempts to save his son’s life.
John said: “Due to the help of the air ambulance crew at the time, and the care and attention he received in hospital, we and our family and friends were able to spend those nine days with him before he passed away.
“I decided I wanted to raise funds to support the WNAA crew and their lifesaving missions as they receive no government or National Lottery funding and rely on the support from the local community to raise the vital funds needed for each lifesaving mission.”
The vital service relies completely on donations to raise the £2,300 needed for each rescue mission.
Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance’s critical care crews can be on the ground within minutes delivering pre-hospital critical care and giving patients the best chance of survival.
The charity’s legacies and in memory executive, Amy Worthington said: “Without kind-hearted and courageous people just like John, showing tremendous bravery and determination to take part in such an incredible task to raise vital funds to support us, our charity could not continue.
“What an amazing achievement for him to be able to say that he completed a skydive at 80 years old.
“We would like to say a huge thank you to John, Clare, and their family for choosing to support our charity and our lifesaving missions in honour of John-Paul, their much-loved son, partner, brother and friend.”
Visit www.justgiving.com/page/john-cassidy-1704443254839? to donate.
