Jessie’s brave jump for cause close to her heart
Jessie Nicholls is doing a charity skydive at Ellough Airfield .j - Credit: Nick Butcher
A 21-year-old Beccles woman will be throwing herself 13,000 feet out of a plane to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society - a cause very close to her heart.
Jessie Nicholls, who is prettified of heights, has signed up to take on the challenge in support of her 80-year-old nanny Dorothy, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s four years ago.
Miss Nicholls said her nanny is now in the last stages of the disease, but is cared for at home by her grandad John.
She said: “I didn’t know anyone who had Alzheimer’s before so to see it through my own eyes for the first time was really difficult.
“It breaks my heart to see my nanny lost in a shell of a person with no emotion or spark left and I knew I needed to do something.
“I have an extreme fear of heights and this is going to be one of the most hardest thing’s I will probably do. But this is for my nanny and for my grandad who has sacrificed the rest of his life to care for her at home and if he has the strength to do that then I have the strength to do this.”
Miss Nicholls, who is a former Sir John Leman High School pupil, will be doing the skydive on June 20 at Beccles Airfield and has already raised £500.
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Both her nanny and grandad will be waiting for her at the bottom, joined by the rest of her family and friends.
She said: “I’m trying not to worry about doing it until the day.
“My grandad is really chuffed that I am doing it for my nanny.”
The Alzheimer’s Society is the leading UK care and research charity for people with the disease and other dementias, their families and carers
To sponsor Miss Nicholls visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/jessienicholls