Lymington daredevil Robin Long (88) to complete 15,000ft skydive for Wessex Cancer Trust

A DAREDEVIL Lymington octogenarian will fulfil a lifelong ambition when he skydives 15,000ft from a plane to raise thousands of pounds for the Wessex Cancer Trust.

Inspired by a trust fundraiser’s presentation during a recent Rotary Club session, High Street resident Robin Long (88) will complete the tandem jump over Old Sarum Airfield, near Salisbury, on Friday 2nd July.

Four younger men will join him for the sponsored stunt they hope will collect at least £2,500 towards continued support for cancer patients across Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight.

Robin told the A&T: “People might ask why I am doing such a thing at my advancing years. The reason I’m doing it is I’ve always wanted to do it and I’m going to do it before it’s too late, before I’ve entirely lost my marbles!”

Himself a retired chartered surveyor, his fellow skydivers, Theo Lewis, Rupert Duckworth, Marcus Hill and Joe Russell, are in the same profession.

“Wessex Cancer Trust need about £1m a year to keep going, and they’ve been hit hard by things such as Brexit,” Robin continued.

“They do a really good job and this is a way to help and encourage them.”

The cause also has personal meaning as he lost his mother to cancer and members of his family have also combated the illness. He called the care they received “extraordinary”.

This is not Robin’s first charity challenge, having completed a Peking to Paris drive in a 1934 Sunbeam car in 2007, raising £30,000 for a Poole school for children with disabilities.

Family and friends supporting him from the ground will include partner Lucie Lewis, son Christopher and his wife Sandra, and daughter Sally Larkins and her husband Brian.

Robin joked: “Several members of Lymington Rotary Club are also coming along as they said they had always wanted to do it but didn’t have the nerve!”

He added: “I have a little bit of apprehension – not nervousness – about how I will feel when I stand at the open door of the plane at 15,000ft.

“But I think I’ll just think let’s go as I’ve got a professional attached to me, hope the parachute opens and if it doesn’t – well, what a way to go!”

Donate online at justgiving.com/fundraising/5goskydiving