Telford 24 Seven

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, It’s super gran

At 88, Freda Ridgway thought she had left it too late to fulfill her life-long ambition. But let this be a lesson to us all… it’s never too late

For as long as Freda Ridgway can remember, she’s wanted to fall from the skies. At the age of 88, her dreams of skydiving appeared to have faded. But the Madeley octagenarian fulfilled her wish when she jumped from 10,000ft. “I loved it,” she beamed. “It was everything I’d hoped for and more. I’d love to do it again, if they let me.”

Freda Ridgway

Freda’s dream came true thanks to Anne-Marie Davies, a co-ordinator at the sheltered housing scheme where she lives, at Chillcott Gardens, in Madeley, Telford. Freda says: “I’ve always wanted to do it, for at least 60 years. I’ve watched them doing it on the telly and I’ve always thought it would be fun.
“The co-ordinator, Anne-Marie, asked me if there was something that I’d like to do that I’d never been able to do. I told her that I’d always wanted to jump out of an aeroplane.
“I remember saying ‘I’m not going to be able to do it now, not at my age’. But she said ‘miracles do happen’.”
Anne-Marie scoured the UK to find skydiving clubs who would provide experiences for the elderly. She trawled the internet and found the North London Parachute Centre, which agreed to let Freda jump. However, on the day Freda was due to jump, the Centre denied the skydive on safety grounds because Freda was unable to leap from a chair and land on her feet.
Anne-Marie was not beaten. She trawled the phone book and internet and found Hinton Parachute Club, which said Freda could jump.
Freda says: “I was booked in for the end of August at the club, which is in Oxfordshire. We left Madeley at 7.45am and just had to sit in a lounge and wait for the weather.
“They were very good, they kept coming and having a chat with us they told us what was happening. There was a snack bar and sandwiches, so we kept ourselves going throughout the day. In the afternoon, one of the guys at the club - Mike - came in and said ‘I think we’ll be able to go in a few more minutes’.”
Freda’s hopes rose. After a lifetime of waiting, it seemed she was about to realise her dream.
She adds: “Mike came back and gave me a jumpsuit. My daughter and carer and Anne-Marie tried to get me into it but it wouldn’t go round my middle. They were trying to squeeze me into it but couldn’t, so Mike bought a bigger one which I put on.
“Then we got geared-up with the parachute and harness. They had a golf buggie, which they bought to the door. They put me inside and took me out to the plane. Some other men, I thought they were hunks, were waiting to lift me into the plane. Then we took off.”

Supergran Freda in action

Freda soared to 10,000 feet, high above the clouds, and then edged to the door. One… two… three. She jumped, strapped to her instructor, Mike, and began her descent.
“I wasn’t thinking anything when I got ready to jump. It didn’t bother me in the slightest. I was laughing all the time. When we got out of the plane the cold air rushed up. Mike had told me to hold my head right back, keep my mouth closed and breathe through my nose. I forgot that bit, so the cold air just hit me.
“But I soon realised what I should be doing. It didn’t throw me and I didn’t get into a panic. We were freefalling for a bit.”
Freda enjoyed the moment. “It’s very difficult to describe. It was beautiful, we came down through the clouds, back into the blue sky. It was absolutely lovely. When we were in the clouds, there was a big rainbow in the sky that wasn’t visible from the ground.”
As they reached lower altitudes, Mike pointed out buildings and Freda’s family and friends. “I waved and blew them a kiss. It was all fun. When Mike initially opened the parachute it all went very quiet. I expected it to jerk, but I didn’t feel any of that.
“We landed with a bit of a thud and my family and friends all came rushing over. My feet were strapped to Mike’s feet, so the landing didn’t hurt me at all.
“My family and friends all kept saying ‘Did you like it?’ I said I’d go again. They said they could see how much I’d enjoyed it.”
Freda experienced about 10 seconds of freefall before the canopy was opened. The great-grandmother of three, who uses a walking frame to get around, hopes to take to the skies again.
Noeleen Lydiatt, Freda’s daughter, said: “Mum absolutely loved it and the first thing she said after landing was ‘can I do it again?’ We were in hysterics and thought ‘why can’t she just do a sponsored knit like everybody else?’.”
Eamonn Fairhead, who filmed the skydive, said: “She left the plane with the biggest smile on her face and she stayed like that throughout.”
Ann-Marie , activities co-ordinator at the Extra Care Housing scheme, organised the parachute jump after hearing about Freda’s ambition.
She said: “Freda had been saying she had always wanted to do a parachute jump so I had to help her achieve her ambition.”
Her daring stunt has already raked in just over £200, which is earmarked to fund a party or day out for all her fellow residents.

Anyone who wants to donate to Mrs Ridgway’s fund can contact Chillcott Gardens on (01952) 587439.