Blind teenager from Gateshead says skydive for Young Lives vs Cancer was 'brilliant'

A blind teenager with a brain tumour has completed a skydive to raise money for a cancer charity which has supported him from a young age.

Jack Thompson, 16, was diagnosed with a low grade glioma, which is a type of brain tumour on his optic nerve when he was four months old, which left him registered blind.

During his lifetime he has undergone seven rounds of chemotherapy, had proton therapy and needs to have regular brain scans and growth hormone injections every night.

The teenager from Gateshead, however, has always remained positive.

Since the age of seven Jack has been on a mission to raise money for the charity Young Lives vs Cancer, whose help he has benefitted from.

To date he has raised over £160,000

Jack completed the skydive yesterday at a centre in Peterlee, and it was his final daring pursuit before “retiring” from fundraising to concentrate on his GCSEs.

Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: “The skydive was brilliant.

"They harness you up and then you jump out of the plane and when you’re doing the freefall, it is very windy and you are moving at about 120 miles an hour, which I heard.

"Even in the space of 30 seconds going at that speed, you drop so much, but I love going fast.“

Jack says he was also given the opportunity to steer the parachute a little bit.

The brave teenager carried out the challenge alongside his aunt Wendy, her friend Amy, and the fundraising engagement manager at Young Lives vs Chancer, Sam Hughes - who told Jack she would never do a skydive again.

He said if someone enjoys a “bit of a thrill” and “a bit of adrenaline”, they should “give it a go”.

Jack celebrated completing the skydive by having a party with his loved ones and said the door is still open for him to continue fundraising, but once he has finished his GCSEs.

Until then, Jack's sister Ava, 9, is due to take over.

He said: “My sister Ava, will be taking over and I may return once I’ve done my GCSEs.

"Sometimes we fundraise together and we’ll have a competition to see who can raise the most money.“

Jack has fundraised at Morrisons shops since 2018 and a manager at the supermarket’s store in Doxford Park also joined the group in completing the adventure on Saturday.

Hundreds of passengers have been affected at airports across the country including Stansted, as summer holidays get under way