Terminally ill mother of footballer Jordan Sinnott believes his legacy will live on

• Video report by Jonathan Brown

The terminally ill mother of a footballer who was killed on a night out says she believes his legacy will carry on after she dies.

Melanie Tait is doing a skydive over Bridlington in East Yorkshire this weekend to raise money and awareness for the Jordan Sinnott Foundation Trust, set up in memory of the former Chesterfield, Halifax and Huddersfield player.

Jordan was killed during a night out with friends in Retford, suffering fatal head injuries when a group of men attacked him following a disagreement in a pub.

Three men were sentenced to prison for their part in the 25-year-old's death, two of whom were guilty of manslaughter.

His death sparked an outpouring of emotion from the footballing world - with around a thousand shirts bearing his name and age donated in his memory and later distributed to deprived children.

Ms Tait, a former detective constable with West Yorkshire Police, set up the Jordan Sinnott Foundation Trust following his death, but was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in August 2022, which doctors say is incurable.

However, she refuses to let her illness stop her living life to the full, saying "every day matters and every moment matters".

"I'm still here to be able to jump out of a plane and make the most of my life," she said, having originally only been given days to live.

"It got to the point when I knew I was dying. I'd not eaten for five days, I'd not drank for four days and I was lying on settee and I was at peace but I knew I was dying."

But so far Ms Tait has defied expectations, and will also be supporting Macmillan Cancer Support when she takes on her challenge at the weekend.

She said: "Every day matters and every moment matters in life and I'm just happy I'm still here to be able to jump out of a plane and make the most of my life.

"As sad as [the cancer diagnosis] is, life goes on, but to me, knowing everybody's fine when I go, that means so much to me, and I just think the charity is going to go from strength to strength and Jordan's legacy is going to carry on."

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