A BREAST cancer survivor with a fear of heights will skydive to raise cash for charity.

Alison Beaver, from Freeland, was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2009 and will face her fears to help others battling the condition.

The mother-of-three aims to raise £1,000 for charity Urology Cancer Research and Education (UCARE).

She said: “Having always encouraged my children to live by Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous quote ‘Do one thing a day that scares you’, I knew that if I was to raise money for cancer then I needed to so something bold and daring myself.

“If my jump out of a plane can raise a small amount of money, raise awareness and help some more patients then it will be worthwhile just being scared for a few seconds.”

The 50-year-old’s inspiration for launching herself out of a plane came from close friend and cancer campaigner Clive Stone.

Mr Stone, from Eynsham, who writes a monthly column for the Oxford Mail, was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2007 and lost wife Jan Stone to breast cancer in 2011 at the age of 61.

The 66-year-old had his kidney removed three weeks after discovering he had cancer.

He has since been treated for 34 brain tumours, while the cancer has spread to his lungs, liver, pelvis, spine and pancreas.

The grandad-of-one said: “I can’t believe I’m still here. I feel very strong and I feel very positive. There’s no cure for my cancer, I know that. You can’t sit around moaning about it, you have got to get on with things.”

His involvement with UCARE encouraged Mrs Beaver to take up the tandem skydiving challenge.

The charity is based at the Churchill Hospital, in Old Road, and aims to improve treatment of urological cancers through research and education.

Mrs Beaver pressed medics to give her an early mammogram at the age of 46 because of her family history of breast cancer.

The Bartholomew School examinations invigilator had a mastectomy in January 2010 before losing all of her hair due to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

She is on breast cancer drug Tamoxifen and hopes to have her final annual mammogram next January before returning to the normal screening process.

Mrs Beaver is a part-time examinations invigilator and a part-time narrator for pilot training CDs at Oxford Airport.

She will skydive on Sunday, September 28, with neighbour Lee Nichols, 46, whose mother had bladder cancer but has now recovered.

  • To sponsor her, visit doitforcharity.com/abeaver.

 

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.