Giant leap for daredevil Tom, 75, as Portadown pensioner skydives from 10,000ft for hospice charity

Tom Forsythe is due to parachute out of an aeroplane to raise much-needed cash for the Southern Area Hospice.

A long-time volunteer at the hospice, which offers specialist palliative and end of life care, the 75-year-old says he wants to challenge himself while raising money for a cause close to his heart.

At the end of May, Tom’s going to find himself 10,000ft up in the sky – and then coming down fast.

His exhilarating challenge is already paying off, as thanks to a wide circle of generous friends he’s around three-quarters of the way to his initial fundraising goal of £1,000.

And while it’s certainly a big step, it’s only the latest in a dedicated charity career that has seen him help build hospitals in Israel and deliver bibles to Vietnam and Cambodia.

With his volunteer work showing him the value of the hospice, Tom thought he could combine his passion for fundraising with an as-yet unrealised dream of parachuting.

"Years ago, I’d wanted to get into skydiving,” he told the News Letter, “but it’s very expensive, and I started going more in the direction of light aeroplanes instead.

"I’d got to thinking – well, I’d be jumping out at 10,000 feet, sinking to the ground, and then it’s all over. But it had stayed with me and when this opportunity came up, I signed up for it.”

Tom says he’s “not nervous, but excited” about his upcoming leap, though he confesses he’s apprehensive about one aspect – and it’s not the height.

"The temperature, that’s a concern,” he says. “They say it’s you lose a degree for every 1,000ft, so if it’s 20°C here, it’s 10°C up there; but if it’s 15°C on the ground, well...”

The hospice often holds daring sponsored events to raise money, including abseiling down the side of a building and treks across India and Cambodia.

But they’re no more adventurous than Tom has already been, as his life has seen him link up with a variety of international causes.

“I used to be involved in fundraising trips to Asia, delivering bibles to places like Vietnam and Cambodia,” he says.

"I was a joiner, and went to Israel to build a hospital in Nazareth; in fact, I’ve applied to go there again this year, I’m just waiting on word back.

"I had to go in for an operation in 2021 that kept me out of action for a bit, but I’m fit and raring to go again.”

Indeed, Tom credits his involvement in previous charities, as well as his dedication to Hope Community Church in Craigavon, for sparking the rapid flurry of donations to his JustGiving page that has seen him already near his initial cash target.

"A lot of people would know me through there, as well as volunteering in the hospice,” he says. “I think that’s where a lot of the sponsorship has come from.

"Though you never know when you’ll be surprised; one man donated €100, and I have no idea who he is.”