A woman went skydiving on the anniversary of her son’s passing to support Woking & Sam Beare Hospice.

Denise Colyer’s son Michael had a rare type of cancer and ultimately, he needed palliative care. His life was sadly cut short, but he certainly lived life to the full. 

At just nine years old, he attended a ski academy in France, which led him to represent Great Britain in ski racing. At 12 years old, he was the British children’s champion, and at 14, he represented his country in the children’s Olympics in the Czech Republic.

“Michael’s last week was spent in the Hospice,” said Denise. “He was treated with so much kindness, love and dignity. Everyone was so supportive – the nurses, the receptionists, the cleaners, literally everyone.”

“Michael was a beautiful person, both inside and out, he managed to live a very active and varied life.”

Skydiving is dependent on the elements that are out of our control and Denise was devastated that her skydive got cancelled. There was a silver lining though, the new date that she was offered was Michael’s birthday.

Denise psyched herself up for the new date and a few days beforehand, she got a call to say they were bringing it forward to ensure better weather. Suddenly, she was in the plane climbing to 15,000 feet.

She said: “Strapped to the instructor, with him taking the lead, I didn’t even realise we’d jumped at first. The freefall was the longest minute of my life, but when the parachute opened it was so quiet and peaceful. The whole thing felt surreal.”

Denise raised £10,821 with gift aid, equating to the running of the entire 20-bed In-patient Unit for 32 hours. If you want to do a fundraiser, visit https://wsbh.org.uk/support-us/get-involved/challenge/