When her friend suggested she should take part in this year’s Courage on the Catwalk, Gail Wright said she was too “much of a coward” to step out on the runway.
So instead, she will be jumping 10,000ft from a plane to raise funds for Friends of Anchor.
Mrs Wright laughed and said she “must be mad”, but on June 25 she will be completing a skydive along with the rest of the group called John’s Angels.
The 56-year-old was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer in December 2020 and describes positivity as a “tonic”.
The grandmother from Aberdeen is raising funds for the north-east charity because they always “go above and beyond” to help anyone dealing with a cancer diagnosis.
She said: “They’re always on the other end of the phone for you, if you’ve had a rubbish day or anything you just pick up that phone and they’re there for you.
“They’re never far away.”
Her friend, Donna Stewart, took part in Courage on the Catwalk last year and suggested she volunteered for it this year.
Mrs Wright said: “She wanted me to do Courage on the Catwalk, but I was too much of a coward to do that so she said ‘what about a skydive then?’ and I was like ‘yeah I’ll do a skydive’.
“So I’ll do a skydive but I won’t do Courage on the Catwalk, and I don’t know why.”
Although Mrs Wright never thought she would ever do anything like a skydive, she is looking forward to jumping alongside the seven other group members.
John’s Angels has set a target of raising £12,000, and so far they have already received £4,500 in donations on the JustGiving page.
As well as raising money for the charity, Mrs Wright is hopeful that the jump will inspire people with a cancer diagnoses to “just keep going”.
After celebrating weddings, her son’s graduation and her granddaughter’s christening last year she realised she didn’t have time to think about how poorly she is.
She said: “My cancer is not curable, but it is manageable and every day is a bonus for me.
“You need something to hold onto to stay positive, when you’ve got cancer positivity is such a tonic.
“And, if we can help somebody to just keep going and not give in by seeing us doing someone like this, just to raise the awareness of that and know it’s going to help someone means the world to me, it really does.”
‘Don’t listen to statistics’
Mrs Stewart, who took part in the fundraising fashion show last year will be joining the skydiving team in Fife.
The 56-year-old from Newburgh was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour in September 2019, but tries not to dwell on her diagnosis.
She says fundraising for Friends of Anchor has become a family thing after she took to the catwalk. Her husband, brother and their friends began Team Wolfpack and trekked the Sahara raising £30,000.
Although she enjoyed Courage, she admits she was probably more nervous thinking about stepping out on the catwalk instead of jumping 10,000ft.
After browsing another brain cancer Facebook page she came across someone who had just completed a skydive and thought it would be fun.
“He was saying anyone fit enough should give it a go,” she said. “And my husband said ‘no point looking into that, you won’t do it’.
“And I thought ‘challenge’.”
Mrs Stewart has received approval from her medical team and is now gearing up for the event.
She said: “We’re living with terminal illnesses, but we’re the lucky ones in that we are mobile and we’re able to do stunts like this.
“For anyone facing a diagnosis, I think it’s really good for them to see.”
The grandmother is hoping to raise awareness of brain cancer through her fundraising, describing it as the “forgotten” cancer.
She finished: “Don’t listen to statistics, for anyone who has just been diagnosed.
“It’s important you see beyond that and you stay positive, because you’re not a statistic at the end of the day.”
Conversation