80-year-old Coventry local takes the leap to raise funds for lifesaving charity in memory of his son

Coventry local, John Cassidy will be taking on a daring skydive to raise funds for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) in memory of his son John-Paul Cassidy.

John will incredibly be taking on the skydive at 80 years young, on 28 January 2024 at Nottingham Airfield. The skydive is in memory of his son John-Paul Cassidy, who was sadly killed in a road traffic collision on 12 April 2018.

John-Paul was helped by an air ambulance crew after the accident, so his father John decided he wanted to raise funds to support the air ambulance which served their local area – the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.

“I am doing the skydive in memory of our son John-Paul who was involved in an accident on 03 April 2018 and tragically passed away nine days later in Hull Royal Infirmary. Due to the help of the air ambulance crew at the time, and the care and attention he received in hospital, we and our family and friends were able to spend those nine days with him before he passed away,” said John and Clare Cassidy.

“I decided I wanted to raise funds to support the WNAA crew and their lifesaving missions as they receive no government or National Lottery funding and rely on the support from the local community to raise the vital funds needed for each lifesaving mission,” added John.

Within minutes, WNAA’s critical care crews can be on the ground delivering pre-hospital critical care and giving patients the very best chance of survival – this vital service relies entirely on donations to raise the £2,300 needed for each rescue mission, as the charity receives no government or National Lottery funding.

Legacies and In Memory Executive, Amy Worthington said:

“Without kind-hearted and courageous people just like John, showing tremendous bravery and determination to take part in such an incredible task to raise vital funds to support us, our charity could not continue. What an amazing achievement for him to be able to say that he completed a skydive at 80 years old!”

“We would like to say a huge thank you to John, Clare, and their family for choosing to support our charity and our lifesaving missions in honour of John-Paul, their much-loved son, partner, brother and friend,” she expressed.

You can donate to support John’s skydive, please visit his JustGiving page – https://www.justgiving.com/page/john-cassidy

For more information, please visit: www.theairambulanceservice.org.uk or call 0300 3045 999.