St Austell man taking on fundraising skydive to mark 80th birthday
David 'Terry' Earl is raising money for Cornwall Air Ambulance and ShelterBox
Last updated 2nd Jun 2023
A Cornish man is swapping flying planes to jumping out of them, as he completes a charity sky dive for his 80th birthday.
David ‘Terry’ Earl, from St Austell, hopes that his parachute jump today will raise up to £3,000 for the local charities Cornwall Air Ambulance and ShelterBox.
As a volunteer at both organisations David is hoping his birthday outing will help support their work.
He will be setting off from Perranporth airfields, a site which he regularly flies from.
When asked how he felt not to be in the driver’s seat, David said: "As a pilot all my life I don’t want to jump out of aeroplanes," and that "I won’t make a habit of it."
He will be jumping from more than 10,000 feet strapped to friend Ryan and will freefall until the parachute is opened.
The charities’ Cornish connections are also important to David, who values not only the work that they do locally but also the impact they have outside the Duchy.
Lousia Arnold, who is the Community Fundraising Officer for ShelterBox spoke highly of David saying that: "It’s people like him who help raise awareness and fund our much-needed work across the world," adding that he "is a wonderful volunteer."
Meanwhile, David believes that the lifesaving work of the Cornish Air Ambulance means "there couldn’t be a better reason to raise money."
When asked if he was nervous about the jump, David he’d just "like the weather to be nice," and hopes that everything goes well.
His online fundraising page will stay open after the jump. You can find it here.