Nottinghamshire woman's charity skydive in memory of her mum

1 month ago

12 August, 2024

Ordinarily, someone who shies away from extreme pursuits, a loving daughter decided to ‘soar like a bird’ by taking part in a charity skydive to mark the 35th anniversary of her mum’s death from breast cancer.

Rosalyn Gombos´ mum Cecilia died when she was 54 from breast cancer, and just 8 months afterwards her dad, Jack, was diagnosed with brain cancer and died two years later – devastating Rosalyn, her younger brother John, and two older sisters, Jackie and Tracey.

“Losing a parent is traumatic at any time in your life, but to lose both parents within two years of each other was devastating for our whole family. It was a really hard time for all the family.

“I decided I wanted to mark the 35th anniversary since my mum passed away as my sons, Max, Harvey and Harry, never knew her and I wanted to bring her into awareness and raise some money for charity,” she explained.

Why a skydive?

Rosalyn, from Edwinstowe in Nottinghamshire, took on the daunting skydive with two friends, Sheryl Holmes and Cheryl Broughton. Turning up with shaky limbs, the friends were given a short briefing before being kitted out and boarding the plane which would take them over 10,000ft high for their tandem skydives.

Rosalyn, 58, channelled the bravery her mum showed while undergoing treatment to help banish any nerves.

She said: “If I’m honest, doing something like this is not me at all! Anybody that knew me previously would have said ‘oh, no. She’ll get so far and then have an absolute meltdown’ but I decided I was just going to get into the head space of my mum and how brave she was during her treatment and not make a drama of it. Which was how my mum was when she was having chemotherapy. She was amazing.”

Rosalyn wore a photograph of her mum around her neck and kept it close to her heart as she soared higher in the plane before making the leap out with an instructor. When the nerves surfaced, she kept telling herself she was excited not nervous.

And it worked! As other fellow skydivers started to feel the pressure she just happily chatted away with the instructor.

Rosalyn said: “When I look back at the video I look really chilled. Honestly, I just wouldn’t have expected to be like that. It was just such a fantastic experience. If I could do it again I would.”

The day of!

Reliving the day last September, she added: “I wasn’t aware that we were getting higher and higher and by the time they were ready for us to shuffle along to where you jump, it all just happened so quickly so I didn’t have time to panic and then I jumped and was screaming with excitement. It was like being in heaven. You just float. That was the best part. It was literally like I was a bird. It was such a gorgeous thing.”

The next thing she knew her feet had hit the ground and all her family had gathered to congratulate her.

Rosalyn raised over £1,000 for Breast Cancer UK and she thanks her eldest son Max, an online coach, for smashing her fundraising target. Max posted a heartfelt message on his social media saying how amazing and brave his mum was and the donations rolled in.

His proud mum said: “Max posted a photograph of us together and explained the story of how his grandma had died before he was born and then all these sponsorships started coming in. It was incredible, it really blew me away.”

Why Breast Cancer UK?

Since her mum’s death, Rosalyn and her sisters have always been mindful of ways to reduce their risk of getting the disease.

Rosalyn said: “Obviously because we’ve got that family history, we are very aware of not drinking alcohol, not smoking and just generally taking care of our health. Anything to reduce our risk as breast cancer is so common now.”

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. Over 55,000 women and around 400 men a year are diagnosed with the disease – yet a quarter of these cases are preventable. Support from amazing fundraisers like Rosalyn help Breast Cancer UK to prevent the disease through education, scientific research, and policy change.

To learn more about easy everyday ways to help reduce your risk and be healthier all round, check out our Prevention Hub.

If Rosalyn’s story has inspired you to take on a challenge of your own to support Breast Cancer UK, email the team [email protected] to get started or click here.

Nottinghamshire woman’s charity skydive in memory of her mum