Skydiving grandmother raises thousands for the MF

20th May 2008

Val Davies isn't your ordinary grandmother. The retired doctor-turned-interfaith minister has added another string to her bow by taking the leap of her life – out of a plane.

Raising over £3500 for the MF, Thame resident Val said skydiving from 10,000 feet over Bicester was an incredibly beautiful experience.

"I’ve always thought it would be fun to leap from an aeroplane, so when I saw the Medical Foundation poster encouraging readers to do it to raise funds, I thought, 'what a wonderful opportunity'," said Val, who has two daughters and four grandchildren.

"I can't claim to be brave as I think you have to press through fear to be brave and I didn't actually feel frightened. Not once did I think, ‘what if?’ and I didn't have any trepidation. I was just looking forward to the sheer novelty of the exercise.

"After we jumped, an instructor told me that in free-fall we would have been doing 125 miles per hour, and that every five seconds we would have fallen the height of the Eiffel Tower. I was impressed."

A supporter of the MF for over ten years, Val said: "If I hadn't already wrung my wonderful sponsors dry, I would jump over and over again for the MF's truly compassionate work.

"I believe that all humans are essentially good, so it is beyond my imagination how anyone can deliberately inflict suffering on any sentient being, let alone the heinous degree of suffering perpetrated by torturers."

Anyone wishing to support Val’s high-flying effort is encouraged to donate by visiting: http://www.justgiving.com/valdavies