£50,000 Charity Freefall Parachute Jump

I’m Dan Rivers and I’m 20 years old. Last year I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a rare form of cancer prevalent in young people. Lymphoma attacks the immune system and causes the lymph nodes to produce cancerous cells instead of the good cells needed to protect the body from infection.

I have had one course of Chemotherapy, which lasted for about 3 months, and have also been through a course of Radiotherapy. Neither the cancer nor the treatment is pleasant. Some days I’m not sure which is worse, as the side effects from chemotherapy include sickness, tiredness, hair loss, ulcers and many other unpleasant things.

Many people at The Salvation Army have supported me over the past year,  providing practical and emotional support as I have struggled to come to terms with this illness. They also do so much in the community with the homeless, elderly, sick and broken people, but they could do so much more given the resources.

The Fountain Centre at St. Luke's Cancer Hospital have been great, and provide a range of alternative therapies for cancer sufferers. When you’re really stressed out with the chemo, you can go to the Fountain for aromatherapy, acupuncture, hypnotherapy and many other treatments. They also have a music room, where I can just relax and play the piano whilst waiting for my treatment. They are a great bunch of people who could also do more with the right funding.

I want to give something back to these good people, so I am planning a sponsored freefall parachute weekend later this year. I aim to raise £50,000 for these two good causes (£25,000 each), and in return I will make a series of solo jumps from 13,000 feet!

I have already received fantastic support from IBM Farnborough and Novo Nordisk Crawley, who have really given this project a great start. I would also like to thank everyone who has made offline donations towards this project.

You can sponsor me online simply by clicking the "Sponsor Us Now" link at the top or bottom of the page.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to send your donation by post, please make cheques payable to The Salvation Army Aldershot Corps (as they are managing the fundraising) and send them to:

The Salvation Army
1 North Lane
Aldershot
GU12 QE

Any support you can give will be greatly appreciated!