A great-grandmother who decided to try skydiving for the first time aged 89 has described the jump as “a chance of a lifetime”.
Joan Wells, from Dornoch, volunteers for the charity Blythswood Care and put herself forward for the skydive when the opportunity to do an abseil challenge fell through.
The great-grandmother of four, who is believed to be the oldest person in Scotland to have done a skydive, said she took part in the 10,000ft jump because she had never done one before.
Speaking afterwards, she said: “It was very interesting, I sort of enjoyed it – it was a new experience but it was over so quick that you don’t really have time to think about it.
“I got a good look at the view in the free fall bit and my instructor was excellent and steered us round so I could get a good view – it was beautiful countryside.
“What went through my head when we were up in the sky was ‘Good heavens, what am I doing here’?”
She travelled to Fife on Friday to complete the tandem jump to raise funds for the charity where she has volunteered for 18 years.
The money donated online at www.virginmoneygiving.com/blythswoodjoan will go towards supporting an after-school care project for children in Romania.
James Campbell, the charity’s chief executive, said: “We admire our supporters who faithfully raise funds for the work of Blythswood Care and were amazed when one of our oldest volunteers Joan Wells – 90-years-old soon – asked if she could do a skydive to raise funds.
“Although she received medical clearance for the jump, we were very relieved to see her land safely back on the ground.”