A WOMAN has jumped 15,000ft out of the sky in aid of the hospital that has cared for her mum who was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Sam Aspey, from Hindley Green, has completed the skydive to support Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust’s (WWL) charity Three Wishes.

She made the decision at the spur of the moment.

Sam, 24, said: “I wanted to do something to raise money and the more I thought about it the more I wanted to do something different.

"I’d completed 10k runs before but wanted this to be something special.

“One day I thought ‘I’m going to do a sky dive’ and within two days I’d booked it.”Leigh Journal:

Sam after the skydive with her instructor Nicky Johnston

Sam’s calm demeanour stayed with her on the plane too.

She added: “We got to 1,000 ft and I thought ‘oh this will be easy’ and then I realised we had another 14,000 ft to go."

Sam raised £800 which will be split between Three Wishes’ Cancer Care Fund and the Women’s Wish Fund, two of the charity’s 11 divisional funds.

She wanted to support the cause after the care her mum Andrea received from both the Breast Screening service and the staff at WWL's Cancer Care Centre.

Sam said: “My mum always felt so safe with her treatment here and has been so complimentary about the staff.

"It feels amazing to have raised this money and I’m so thankful for them, we couldn’t have gotten through it without their support."

Leigh Journal:

Sam and mum Andrea with Janet Pennington, fair left, Janet Ellison, second from left, and Janet Irvine, far right, with staff from WWL's Cancer Care Centre

Andrea, who joked that the first thing she thought was that her daughter does not have life insurance when she found out about the challenge, also reserved praise for the hospital.

She said: “I couldn’t have asked for better treatment or for more support.

"It’s made me realise just how lucky we are to have this service so close to home.”

Sam and Andrea have also been raising awareness for the South Lancashire Breast Screening Service.

Through attending her breast screening appointment with the service Andrea’s cancer was detected early.

The service is offered to all eligible women, registered with a GP, aged between 50 and 70.

For more information about breast screening contact the South Lancashire Breast Screening Unit at The Thomas Linacre Centre, Wigan on 01942 774713, or your own GP.

In some areas of Lancashire, three in ten women do not attend breast screening appointments but they detect cancer at an early stage and deliver the best chance of successful treatment.

South Lancashire Breast Screening Service patient navigator Janet Ellison said: “I’d just like to say a huge thank you to Sam for being so brave and completing the skydive and kindly donating money to the Women’s Wish Fund.

“We truly appreciate her support.

"Sam’s achievement will now help support other women who are receiving care and will help promote awareness and the importance of attending breast screening appointments to other eligible ladies in the area.”

Leigh Journal:

Sam with her skydiving certificate

Macmillan lead cancer nurse, Janet Irvine, said: “We really appreciate the money that Sam’s raised and we are so grateful that our patients appreciate what we are able to provide for them.

“We are always looking at ways to improve our service so this donation will go towards making those improvements to our Cancer Care Centre.”

Fundraising manager, Janet Pennington added: “Donations like Sam’s help us to do more for our patients.

"The money will make a massive difference to patients and local people for years to come.”