Daredevil Deborah leaps into her 40s

HEAD in the clouds . . . Deborah with her instructor

Charity sky dive raises £1,000

Deborah Pennington celebrated her 40th birthday with a 14,000ft sky dive in aid of a good cause.

The warehouse operative completed the tandem parachute jump at Cockerham, Lancashire, to raise money for a friend’s brother, who needs a double heart and lung transplant.

Jason Collier (31) has primary pulmonary hypertension which constricts the blood vessels carrying blood from the heart to the lung. The progressive disease eventually leads to heart failure and death.

Deborah, of Fresca Road, Moorside, works with Jason’s sister, Tracey Faulkner, at Servicecare in Hollinwood.

She raised £1,000 to help pay for pioneering stem cell treatment which could help Jason, who has a young daughter and lives in Farnworth, Bolton.

“It is something I have always wanted to do. It was actually a birthday present from my husband, Lee, and Tracey asked me if I would raise money doing it,” explained Deborah.

“I loved every minute of it. It was a bit like a fairground ride. The only trouble was, I wasn’t able to queue up and go on again!”

She now hopes to do an annual charity parachute jump and added: “I raised about £700 more than I thought we would. We had a brilliant response.”

Tracey, who lives in Ashton, is raising money for her brother’s treatment along with her four sisters, who live in Farnworth and Brighton.

She said: “We just want the chance for our brother to see his daughter grow up and will do whatever it takes for this to happen.”

People who would like to support their fundraising can visit www.sisterslove.co.uk .