80 year old's birthday skydiving fundraiser for charity

As reported last week, Dorothy Everett of Portesham chose to do a skydive to mark her landmark birthday.

On the day, instead of jumping from a planned 7,000 feet, the ‘Possum Trio’ of Dorothy and her friends Andy Murdoch and Kim Dawl elected to instead jump from 15,000 feet in a tandem skydive at Dunkeswell airfield, near Honiton.

Dorothy, a retired nurse who turned 80 on May 20, said she wanted to do something different for her birthday, even if her friends and family thought she was 'crazy' to do it.

Dorothy said: “I am proud that we decided to do the drop.

Dorothy coming in to land. Picture: Dorothy Everett

“It was a good day with minimal wind, and we all managed to do it.

“When the canopy opened, I could see all the beautiful views and the field.

“The other two also enjoyed it, although Kim says she might not do it again."

The jump was tandem so they were strapped to instructors.

Dorothy says that the only time she was nervous was when she was landing because of her bad knees, but thankfully her instructor Ryan handled it well.

The skydive saw a 60-second freefall and took them 5-6 minutes to reach the ground.

Dorothy says she found the views beautiful – she could see Chesil Beach, the Bristol Channel, the North Devon coast, Taunton, Exeter and even the M5.

Dorothy with instructor. Picture: Dorothy Everett

Dorothy added: “It was great, I can thoroughly recommend it.

“I would quite like to go again or perhaps do wing walking for one of my next birthdays - if I can persuade my son to let me.”

Dorothy was joined by her two friends Andy Murdoch who is 59, and Kim Dawl who is 75.

Andy is Dorothy's neighbour and a former Navy submariner officer who has some parachuting experience in the past, whilst Kim is a retired school headmistress who moved to Portesham to retire and met Dorothy through their shared hobby of card making.

The skydive raised £1,339 for charity split between the Three Ells Trust, and the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance