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75-year-old with MS from Sittingbourne skydives for charity
12:00, 17 July 2019
updated: 16:03, 18 July 2019
A pensioner has smashed his fundraising target after completing a skydive, despite having multiple sclerosis (MS).
Chris Pinn, from Sittingbourne, took the leap of faith at Headcorn on Saturday, July 13, when he plunged 12,000ft from a plane.
The 75-year-old, who was diagnosed with MS in 1995, is sometimes unable to feel his feet and can only walk short distances.
He gets treatment for the autoimmune condition, which attacks healthy parts of his body and means he has to walk with a stick, at the Kent MS Therapy Centre in Canterbury.
He had hoped to raise £400 for the charity but has so far collected more than £600.
The retired finance director said: “At first it was quite a feat to go up there and we went through the clouds.
“Physically me and my partner were travelling at about 120mph through the air and I was upside down until my instructor pulled the controlling chute.
“I’ve been up in light planes before so it wasn’t all that scary but it was the initial jumping out which was daunting.
“I remember there being just a lot of clouds in front of me and we did a couple of spins.
“It has always been one of the things I always wanted to do.”
The father-of-three and grandfather-of-one added that his wife, Tricia, was nervous about the challenge.
“She was quite worried that I might have broken my ankles because we’re going on a cruise to the Canaries,” Mr Pinn added. “She was very pleased to see that I got back down safe and well.”
Having completed one of the challenges on his bucket list he is now turning his attention to other things but had ruled out climbing one of the world’s tallest peaks.
“The one thing I’ve always wanted to do, coming from South Africa originally, is to climb Mount Kilimanjaro but I think that has passed me by now - I can only walk short distances,” he added.
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