6:27pm Saturday 4th July 2009
A MOTHER-OF-TWO has raised more than £1,500 for a cancer charity after jumping out of an aeroplane in memory of her sister.
Robina Element, a 45-year-old senior credit controller at an accountancy firm in St Albans, took the plunge from 12,500 feet to raise money for Bowel and Cancer Research.
Robina’s sister, Sam Frary, died last year following a brave fight with bowel cancer.
Robina took on the tandem dive in memory of Sam, and has now raised £1,500 after friends, family and colleagues donated money to her cause.
She said: “After my sister passed away, I experienced a feeling of emptiness and found it hard to motivate myself, so I decided to turn my negative energy into something positive by helping other people.
“I chose to support the Bowel and Cancer Research charity because I wanted to help save other families from suffering this loss in the future.”
Robina added: “I was hoping the daring event would spur people on to donate – and I am really thrilled to have raised so much money for this extremely worthy cause.
“Having braved the jump, which was really pretty frightening, I know that I am capable of more than I ever thought I was – which is a fantastic feeling.”
Despite taking the plunge from more than 12,500 feet, Robina says she is far from an adrenaline junkie.
She lists her hobbies as jogging, badminton, watching movies and spending time with friends.
However, since doing the skydiving she is already coming up with some new challenges.
She said: “It’s the first daring thing I’ve done in my life – and I simply loved it.
“Recent events have led me to realise that life really is too short to be afraid of this kind of thing.
“It might not be a traditional hobby for a credit controller at a business advisory firm, but I’m now seriously thinking about taking up skydiving for good.”
To donate to Robina’s fundraising visit www.justgiving.com/robinaelement.
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