Brought to earth with a bump
AN 84-year-old charity sky-diver has been grounded after doctors refused to clear him for another jump.George Hodgson, 84, from Gateways in Wolsingham, has raised almost £10,000 for charity through two sky-dives and a wing-walk in the past nine months.
He hoped to raise over £5,000 for the British Heart Foundation with a sky-dive next month.
Mr Hodgson, a great-grandfather, said: ³I chose the British Heart Foundation because my wife died of heart failure three years ago last month.
³I wanted to do it during the school holidays so that my grand daughter could come down with me and watched me jump. She hasn¹t seen me jump yet. ² Mr Hodgson was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago but until now it has not prevented him from jumping. All over-50¹s must have a medical check before sky-diving.
He said: ³My cancer count had dropped from over 100 to less than one but it is going up again. My blood pressure is also up slightly for the first time ever.
³Prostate cancer can also get into bones which might be a problem when I am landing so the doctor was reluctant to sign me off.² He now has doubts over whether he will ever be able to sky-dive again.
He said: ³At the moment I don¹t feel like I could run around like I did. I feel more tired now.
³Sometimes I feel like I am being told to give up.² Mr Hodgson first had cancer thirty years ago when he contracted non-Hodgkin¹s lymphoma. His wife was told he had a week to live when he was too unwell to finish his chemotherapy treatment. However, after four operations he beat the cancer.
He said: ³The cancer took me off work as an electrician. I had aggressive chemotherapy and 46 radium treatments.
³I had on and off treatment for ten years but eventually got the all-clear.² Mr Hodgson credits his granddaughter for inspiring his recent daredevil exploits after seeing her abseil down the Baltic Centre in Gateshead.
He explained: ³I decided then that I was definitely going to do something but I didn¹t know what. Then I saw a Marie Curie ad in the paper for a volunteer sky diver and it went from there.² His first jump raised just over £3,000 for the cancer charity.
Despite Mr Hodgson serving in the R.A.F during World War II, it was the first time he had been in a plane.
He said: ³I felt fine in the plane, nerves didn¹t seem to bother me at all.
Though I had other things to think about- like getting down.² He has also performed a wing-walk in Scotland for a cancer charity and most recently another sky dive. He has raised almost £10,000 in total.
To raise money he travelled to as many local businesses as possible, going as far as Darlington, Spennymoor and Stanhope, in search of sponsorship.
He also refused to take any money out of his sponsorship to cover his own costs such as the £200 for the sky dive, £75 for registration and £80 for the photographs.
³Some people think I¹m a bit mad and neighbours say they would never do it themselves but it has been great.
³You free-fall at 125mph from two miles high after having 20 minutes training.
³Last time I had a curry right before I went up.²