The sky's the limit for Mick
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Inverness College science technician Mick Parry is preparing to put aside his fear of heights to make a fund-raising sky dive from 10,000ft for the Raigmore Children’s Ward Appeal.
The 58-year-old was talked into the event while visiting the appeal office, run by the ARCHIE Foundation, to hand over £60 from a month-long beard-growing challenge.
"I said I wouldn’t mind doing a bit more fund-raising because I think it is a good cause," Mr Parry explained.
"They asked me about doing the New York Marathon but I’m not fit enough. They then mentioned the sky dive and I said I would think about it because I needed something to blow the cobwebs away.
"A couple of days of later I got a letter about it and decided to give it a go."
Mr Parry, who spent 28 years in the RAF as a police officer, will do the sky dive on Saturday 2nd June at St Andrews.
"It will be a tandem sky dive so I will be attached to someone else," he said. "That is partly why I agreed to do it. I really don’t like heights. If I was doing it solo, I wonder whether I could really make myself do it.
"I am both excited and apprehensive. It is certainly something to remember for the rest of my life."
Mr Parry and his wife, Christine, who live in Forres, have a son and a daughter and a five-year-old grand-daughter.
He is hoping to raise as much money as possible by taking up the daring challenge. As well as bag-packing at his local Co-op store, Mr Parry is organising a raffle at the college.
Prizes include a football signed by the Rangers team plus a certificate of authenticity, a tour for four of Celtic FC and two tickets for an Aberdeen match next season.
The £1 million appeal aims to create a more child-centred family-friendly children’s ward. Launched in March last year by the ARCHIE Foundation in conjunction with The Inverness Courier, it has already raised £690,000.
