Woman with leukaemia skydives on her 90th birthday

While a lot of 90-year-olds prefer to celebrate their birthday with a sedate celebration, one has marked her milestone by skydiving – raising £5,000 for a homeless charity in the process.

Shirley Robinson, from Long Clawson in Leicestershire, jumped out of a plane at 14,000ft for the fundraiser at Skydive Langar in Nottinghamshire.

The OAP, who was diagnosed with chronic leukaemia last year, raised the vital funds for Crisis, a charity that provides help and support for homeless people.

Speaking to BBC News Shirley said: ‘It’s just wonderful how generous people have been. It’s lovely.’

In a video of the jump Shirley can be seen donning a bright blue jumpsuit as she was cheered on by family and friends before getting on the flight. 

She beamed and waved at the camera as she was strapped to her skydiving instructor. 

After Shirley’s adrenaline filled skydive she landed safely in a field and can be heard saying ‘that was wonderful.’

Asked about her favourite part she said: ‘That was lovely, going through the clouds.’

She admitted afterwards that the free fall was ‘a bit breathtaking’ but she ‘loved it’ before thanking her instructure for looking after her. 

Shirley arrived back to a hero’s welcome as her family and friends cheered and congratulated her.

A spokesperson for the charity said: ‘We want to say an enormous thank you to Shirley for the incredible amount of money she has raised.

‘Shirley’s donation will provide vital support for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. We’re so grateful.’

She jumped out of a plane at 14,000ft for the fundraiser at Skydive Langar in Nottinghamshire

The OAP, who was diagnosed with chronic leukaemia last year, raised the vital funds for Crisis, a charity that provides help and support for homeless people

It comes after an 81-year-old runner, who aims to complete 300 marathons, revealed the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon was ‘one of the very best’.

Hilary Wharam, from Leeds, who took up running at the age of 55, completed her 175th marathon on Sunday.

The pensioner, who completed the marathon in eight hours and 15 minutes. said: ‘It was amazing. I never expected it to be so good.’

Speaking to BBC News she revealed many people came along to cheer her on during the run which helped her get over the finish line.

She beamed and waved at the camera as she was strapped to her skydiving instructor in the plane 

After Shirley’s adrenaline filled skydive she landed safely in a field and can be heard saying ‘that was wonderful’

In a video of the jump Shirley can be seen donning a bright blue jumpsuit as she was cheered on by family and friends before getting on the flight

She said: ‘So many people know me, not just the runners but from other disciplines, so as I was running round people were jumping out from the crowd to give me a hug.’

Hilary admitted when the marathons start to get hard towards the finish line, it helps having people to chat to.

She said: ‘It’s always hard, it’s harder on your own, but if you’ve got a captive audience, and you’re thinking about helping them, you just fly because you’re not concentrating on yourself at all.’