Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
79-yr-old amputee’s parachute jump promise for loving wife
Brave Sam in skydive to raise vital funding for Alzheimer’s
WHEN Sam Hazlett’s beloved wife’s health began to deteriorate she asked him to make her a special promise.
And always one to keep his word, the great-grandfather-of-two has gone above and beyond to make sure he did something memorable for Evelyn.
Tomorrow, the 79-year-old amputee, who lost his right foot below the knee in 2004 due to health complications, will jump out of a plane at 10,000ft to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.
The South Belfast man said he wanted to do what he could for charity in memory of Evelyn, who lost her battle with the condition in May.
He added: “About 10 years ago my wife was diagnosed as having Alzheimer’s, no one in the family, including myself, had any idea.
“We just went on normally but I could see a change gradually.”
After Christmas 2009 the retired teacher had to make the difficult decision to close the guest house Evelyn ran off the Lisburn Road as he said it was becoming too dangerous for her.
Her condition deteriorated and last year she asked her husband of 51 years, with whom she had four children, to do something special for her. He recalled: “Last Christmas she said to me, ‘Sam promise me you will do something for the Alzheimer’s Society’.
“They had been very good to us and given us a lot of information and she asked me to do something to raise funds.
“Things were getting worse and I made a promise to her I would do something for the Alzheimer’s Society.
“Just after Easter this year, things started to really go downhill and she passed away in the middle of May. We all knew it was inevitable but it was sooner than we expected.”
Through his grief, Sam has focused on his promise and spent time thinking about what he could do to honour her memory and raise £1,000 for charity.
Due to his amputation he knew he could not walk or run to generate money.
But when he was in his 20s he had tried his hand at parachute jumps and decided to do a tandem sky dive.
Sam said: “I am really looking forward to it. I think she would be over the moon, she would not be happy about me jumping out of an aircraft at 10,000ft as she was afraid of heights but I know she would be proud.
“Our children and grandchildren cannot believe it, granddad is doing this.”
Our children & grandkids still cannot believe that I’m doing a skydive SAM HAZLETT YESTERDAY