Northamptonshire granny celebrates 70th birthday with charity tandem skydive

Merryn Tyrrell, of Chadstone, has chosen to mark her 70th birthday by taking part in a mother and daughter free fall in support of Cancer Research UK next month.

Mrs Tyrell, who is being advised by her doctor to not take the plunge, is daringly set to jump with her youngest daughter, Katie Coe on October 15 at the Hinton Skydiving Centre in Brackley.

Merryn said: “I wanted to do something really different to mark my 'milestone' birthday, so despite having two new hips, recent toe surgery and my doctor thinking I'm totally mad, I have firmly twisted my daughter Katie's arm to do this with me despite both of us being terrified of heights.”

The audacious granny, who is completely “off the wall”, is no stranger to charity events and previously abseiled down the maternity building of Ipswich hospital to raise money for a local Suffolk charity.

Daughter Katie said: “Most of our family members have been touched by cancer at one point, and Mum doesn’t want a party or to celebrate getting old, she would just rather people donate to this good cause.”

“Mum's doctor told her that there's no way she'll be able to do it but he has given her the go-ahead and said that she won't be getting any sympathy if it all goes wrong."

The mother and daughter duo have already beaten their target of £600 and are appealing for more people to donate to the JustGiving page.

To donate to Merryn’s Just Giving page, see link: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Caryl-Tyrrell