Mark Kelly has discovered his head for heights since becoming a champion St Luke’s fundraiser.
Mark embarked on months of fundraising for St Luke’s in memory of wife Olwen, who spent her final days at the hospice as she lost her fight against cancer.
His first challenge was to walk 250 miles in one month, which meant abandoning the car and public transport in favour of a walk from his Frecheville home to work every day, with variations in route meaning an average of at least an eight-mile trek daily.
He also organised a special fundraising evening at Sheffield’s Philadelphia Function Suite, with a musical lineup that included popular city band Mam Tour and musician Kenny Francis, who also helped stage the event.
But the toughest challenge of all was the one that meant Mark overcoming his fear of heights as he took part in two of the most popular St Luke’s annual events – the Abseil and the Sky Dive.
“I was literally petrified when it came to the day I was doing the Sky Dive but the funny thing is that as soon as I’d done it I wanted to go up and do it again,” he admits.
And once he recovers from a forthcoming hip replacement operation, he says he’ll be heading for the sky a second time.
All that activity has brought the fundraising total to £5,470, while a sale of Olwen’s handbag collection has taken the total to more than £6,000.
“I just felt I owed St Luke’s so much and that I had to do something to support them,” said Mark.
“It’s the little thing you remember the most, like when Olwen said she liked being able to see the birds in the garden from her room and within 10 minutes a nurse came back with a little bird feeder to fit on the outside of the window.
“They didn’t just support Olwen, they were there for us as a family and that meant a lot to us.”