A brave woman screamed ‘I love you mum’ all the way to the ground during a terrifying charity skydive. Robyn Towns, from Arbroath, completed the jump on Thursday night in memory of her mum, Dorothy, who she lost to brain cancer.
Robyn, 22, took the 10,000ft leap at Strathallan Airfield, in Perthshire, and said it was the ‘most amazing experience of her life.’
She said she hoped her mum would have been proud of her amazing jump that was organised by her best friend, Ailsa Teviotdale, who also took the plunge.
Speaking to Dundee Live, Robyn said: “Without doubt it was the best experience of my life. I screamed ‘ I love you mum’ all the way down as I know she was watching me from somewhere.
“I think she would have been really proud of us.”
And she added: “I was quite emotional on the way up in the plane but didn’t feel nervous at all. There were over 20 supporters on the ground with banners including mum’s three best friends.
“It was an amazing day and I want to now do other fundraisers - I have set the bar pretty high though!”
Robyn was still in secondary school when her mum Dorothy was given the shock diagnosis in 2017 and her life changed forever.
Describing the day she found out her mum was ill, she said: “The day Mum was diagnosed is a day I will never forget as it changed my family life forever.
“Mum had absolutely no symptoms whatsoever. I left for school one morning and she was absolutely fine – by lunchtime everything had dramatically changed.
“We were in absolute disbelief when Mum was diagnosed just hours after her first symptom.
“Getting my head around what we had been told when Mum hadn’t even been unwell at all was really difficult.”
And she added: “We were overwhelmed with upset, shock and anger about why this happened to my family.
“We all never knew what the next day would bring – Mum kept outdoing all the time scales we were given over and over again.
“We are forever grateful for that time. Some days, Mum would be so bright which was such a joy and this constant state of uncertainty just became our new way of life.”
Dorothy tragically passed away in December last year after she was diagnosed with a glioblastoma brain tumour in August 2017.
This is one of the most aggressive types of brain tumour and typically comes with a short prognosis of just 12-18 months on average.
Amazingly, Dorothy lived for another four years and four months with her husband Derek, Robyn and their much-loved dog, Jet.
Robyn did the skydive to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity.
She set out to raise £1,000 but on the day of the jump the total had reached £5,801. By the end of the weekend it sat at an amazing £6,201.
Robyn thanked Ailsa for organising the jump and two local companies that have been very generous - Inverkeilor haulage firm RT McEwan, who her dad works for and Carnegie Fuels, in Brechin.
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