Hello everyone, Im doing a charity skydive for Pilgrims Hospice on 17th August 2025 in memory of my Dad, Richard who sadly passed away on 8th December 2023 aged 54.

Dad suddenly got ill in Febuary 2023 and after he went to A&E he got told he had 'shadows' on one of his kidneys and liver. However, It wasnt until May 2023 that he officially got diagnosed with metastatic UTUC cancer.

UTUC is Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma. Its a rare cancer that occurs in either the inner lining of the tube that connects the kidney to the bladder (the ureter) or within the inner lining of the kidney. This then started pushing against his stomach meaning he couldnt keep anything down resulting in how he found out he had UTUC. This then spread to his liver.

To be honest before dad got diagnosed with UTUC cancer id never even heard of it. Unfortunatley, its a cancer thats not researched enough.

Dad went through a lot with his diagnosis and was let down more times than i can count. Yet, he would always make sure that everyone else was ok before checking in with himself. Thats just who he was. He was a kind soul, loved his family/friends, a proper old school dad dancer and just loved life.

He was always one for trying out new things and wanting to go out and just do. He mentioned to us before that he would love to do a skydive, knowing it would be so fun to do. But, sadly he didnt get that chance.

The reason why ive chosen to do this skydive is not only to do the thing that dad wished to do, but to do it while giving back to Pilgrims Hospice. I really couldnt think of a better way to say thankyou. Having Pilgrims Hospice while dad was on end of life care made such a huge impact on his last moments with us. They were the ONLY ones who sat, listened and really took their time to understand him. No one else seemed to give him the time of day and all he needed was reasurance and understanding. They made sure he was cared for and he was finally able to open up about how he felt instead of feeling dismissed all the time. I truely cannot thank them enough for showing dad the compassion, patience and understanding he deserved while he went through his last weeks with us.

Please if you can donate, no matter how small to my JustGiving page for Pilgrims Hospice it will be appreciated so much.

Thankyou!