EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE

Dennis Moulton’s lifelong wish was to jump out of a plane... and he wasn’t going to let age stop him.

The 89-year-old care-home resident took to the skies last month to raise money for Marie Curie.

Dennis lives in Care UK’S Dashwood Manor home in Basingstoke, and when staff installed a “wishing tree” to ask residents for new activities they would like to try, Dennis wasted no time in pitching his skydive dream.

The staff immediately set to work to make his wish come true – with some of them even joining him on the skydive.

They had originally planned it for March 25 and were minutes away from jumping when, despite his best efforts, Dennis struggled to lift his legs up to the height needed for the landing.

Although the skydive couldn’t go ahead as planned, Dennis was not defeated, and he visited Dashwood Manor’s in-house physiotherapist twice a week, while doing his own exercises every day, to ensure he was strong enough to fulfil his dream. After being given the OK, the new date was set for just one month later. And this time he managed to complete the leap from 15,000ft.

Dennis said: “It was splendid. I felt like my hard work paid off. The feeling of free-falling was just amazing, and I was just trying to take it all in. It was better than I ever expected. Age is only a number. You can do anything if you are determined.”

Dennis has raised more than £2,500 for Marie Curie, but the total is still rising and will also be matched by Care UK’S funding initiative.

Dil Perera from Dashwood Manor said: “We were thrilled to help Dennis complete his lifelong wish to skydive while raising vital funds for a very deserving charity.

“All the team and residents had been looking forward to the big day and it was wonderful to see the smile on Dennis’s face as he landed on the ground.”

Michelle Martin, Fundraising Director at Marie Curie, said: “Thank goodness for Dennis. This is the story we all need right now!

“On behalf of the charity, I want to say a huge thank you to Dennis. The money he raised will help us care for people affected by terminal illness all over the UK and I suspect that when people see his amazing achievement he’ll smash his fundraising target.

“I know Dennis will inspire so many people out there who will, just like Dennis, reach new heights with their fundraising.”

To donate to Dennis’s Just Giving page, please visit: justgiving.com/dashwoodmanor