A WOMAN from Wrexham has taken to the skies to plunge from a plane for charity.

Anne Lloyd, 68, from Llay, decided on an adrenaline-fueled charity challenge in order to raise vital funds for the North West Cancer Research chairty.

Mrs Lloyd, who has supported the Charity since the passing of her husband Robert in 2005, originally decided to take on the challenge after noticing the date of The Big Jump Skydive was on what would have been her late husband’s 69th birthday.

Since announcing her fundraising effort on her Facebook page, support has flooded in from family, friends and the public, who have managed to raise a staggering £2,800 so far for the Charity.

Mrs Lloyd joined a group of fellow charity skydivers, travelling to Cockherham, Lancashire to soar to the dizzying heights of 15,000ft for her jump.

She recalled the emotions she felt between dangling her feet from the plane, and feeling them on the ground again.

“I was actually quite calm while we were climbing up to the height, it wasn’t until I dangled my legs out of the plane that I thought to myself that I can’t believe I’m doing this.

“The feeling of falling through the air was simply amazing, I couldn’t hear a thing during the free-fall, I was told afterwards that we were falling at approximately 154mph.

“Once the parachute opened though, it was breath-taking.

“The view was incredible, and once we started getting closer to the ground I could see my neighbour, who had come with me, jumping and waving.

“The landing was perfect as well, it was just overall an awesome experience.

“What an absolutely great day the skydive was. I couldn’t believe how lucky we were with the weather and I felt at ease the moment I met my professional skydiver, Lee.

“From start to finish my experience was filled with lovely surprises and coincidences. As well as being set on Rob’s birthday, a friend of mine happened to have a blue butterfly broach, like that of the Charity logo, that she gave me to wear and then after the jump the first song on the radio was Proud by Heather Small.

“It’s almost as if Rob was there, looking down on me through it all. I’ve got a fair idea of what he would be saying – ‘Wife, you must be mad!’”

A self-confessed thrill seeker, Mrs Lloyd had recently taken on the famous Velocity Zip Wire in Snowdonia as well as climbed Mount Snowdon, but decided to up the stakes to 15,000ft to fundraise for cancer research, a cause close to her heart.

“Research is very important to me. My youngest sister was given a new chemotherapy treatment after a mastectomy in 2000 and has been cancer free since. Research is helping more treatments to be found and saving more lives.”

“I’m extremely proud of my wonderful family and friends who have sponsored me to do this skydive and raise such an amazing amount for a wonderful cause.”

North West Cancer Research is the leading cancer charity for the North West and North Wales, with research taking place at Bangor University.

Having funded over £40 million worth of research since 2000, the Charity has supported hundreds of local clinicians, doctors and students in their research.

Mrs Lloyd is still fundraising for North West Cancer Research, you can support her at http://bit.ly/Anneskydive