“On Friday 15th July 2011, my brother Malcolm, his best friend Stewart and I did a parachute jump at a Cambridgeshire airfield in memory of Nicholas. It has been our ambition for years, so we thought that this was the perfect way to celebrate Malcolm’s 50th birthday and raise funds for CRY.

We arrived at the airfield at 9:00am on a very dull morning. After registration we had our jump briefing. We then had to wait 6 hours for our turn, but as the day progressed it turned out to be a beautiful hot sunny day.

At around 3:30pm we boarded the plane and then took off. In a short space of time we had climbed to 12,000ft. At this point I should have been feeling fear, but to my great surprise I was quite calm.

After the jump my brother was jumping around like a five year old squealing with delight. Despite suffering from a throbbing eardrum, I was exhilarated and we were already making plans for my next jump.

The total amount raised was £2,826.70. The day is going to be one that we will all remember forever.”

Jenny Thomas