‘Awesome!’ The verdict of University of Cumbria senior sports lecturer Mark Christie who has successfully parachuted above South Cumbria clad only in a pair of swimming trunks.
Despite the air temperature at 15,000 feet registering zero Celcius, his parachute instructor Ralph also joined in carrying out the drop in shorts too!
The parachute jump at Skydive Northwest is just the latest activity Mark has undertaken to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
“I didn’t have time to worry about the temperature,” Mark said. “We were soon down and it was such a rush! To have family and friends there to encourage made it all the more special.”
The jump – Mark’s first – almost didn’t happen after he broke his left arm while cycling in Scotland in March. Along with fellow fundraiser Mithil Shah the pair have already swum across Ullswater to raise money for the charity.
Support from Mark’s fundraising campaign also came from Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty’s mum Caroline who sent him an encouraging message:
‘You’ve done doubly well here Mark; honestly you should be really proud of yourself. You didn’t feel like it probably because of the circumstances & how YOU FELT through your grief. That in itself was hard, then Adam gave you that PUSH; because if Adam could overcome demons & terrible obstacles why can’t you? And you’ve & kept it going. An inspiring story, early stages of grief, ONLY you could do this. Wish you all the best in life to come.”
After swimming, skydiving and with the new academic term around the corner Mark’s taking a well-earned break from fund-raising but is still totting up the final amount.
“There’s still time to donate – so many families have experienced the trauma of losing a loved one to cancer – let’s help beat it!” Mark said.
