Sharena Record and Amy Childs, who both work for Enhanced Community Healthcare Options (ECHO) supported living services, recently jumped from a plane in aid of the charity Make 2nds Count raising £2,000.
They did the daredevil stunt to say thank you to the charity for supporting their friend and colleague, Anne Blacklock, who is living with secondary breast cancer.
This means the cancer has spread to other parts of Anne’s body and while it can be treated, there is no cure.
ECHO’s customer relationship manager for the Midlands and the North, Anne said: “Amy and Sharena were fearless, and it was amazing to watch them float down on their parachutes.
“Make 2nds Count is such a supportive charity and I was so proud that they raised such a lot of money, which will enable many more people to be helped.
“Thank you both for your bravery, and enabling us to have such a fun day out.”
Sharena, ECHO’s regional operations director for the Midlands, was given the sky dive as a 40th birthday present in 2020 and decided to use it to raise money for Make 2nds Count due to the ‘devastating’ news about Anne’s health. The 15,000 feet skydive took place at Langar Airfield, Nottingham.
Amy, who is the company’s clinical support manager, decided to join her in the charity jump and ECHO is supporting the pair by paying the cost of Amy’s skydive.
Sharena said: “I am so proud of myself and Amy for completing the sky dive. Thinking about Anne and raising the money gave us the impetus to actually jump out of the plane. We enjoyed a lovely celebratory picnic afterwards to round off a wonderful day.”
Amy said: “Anne is such a fabulous friend and if by jumping out of that aeroplane we can help a charity that has done so much for her then all the nerves were worthwhile.”
Andrew Shelton-Murray, Director of ECHO Supported Living Services, said: “Anne is a much-loved colleague and friend and we did not hesitate to lend our support when we heard what Sharena and Amy were planning.”
Emma Hall, head of operations at Make 2nds Count “Hope is one of the most important things we can give those living with secondary breast cancer and their families. We are honoured to have been chosen to benefit from Sharena and Amy’s skydive, fully supported by their employer ECHO Supported Living Services, allowing us to support more people living with secondary breast cancer and provide hope that we can do something positive for patients through helping to finance research into secondary breast cancer”.
ECHO supports people with autism and learning disabilities and Sharena and Amy invited some of its service users along to watch them jump from the plane.
Make 2nds Count is dedicated to making people living with secondary breast cancer count by raising funds to support specialist research into this form of cancer, extending and improving the quality of life for patients battling against this treatable, but incurable disease.