93-year-old UK man skydives 10,000 feet with wife's ashes

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Press Trust of India London
Last Updated : Nov 13 2013 | 3:48 PM IST
Jumping Jack! In a daredevil feat, a 93-year-old British man, who has undergone a triple heart bypass, completed a 10,000 feet skydive with late wife's ashes strapped to his body.
Jack Hake, of Wimborne, Dorset, before undertaking the jump, tucked a bag containing the remains of his wife Veronica under his jumpsuit because the couple, who were married for 70 years, "did everything together".
Hake undertook the jump to raise money for the GP surgery that treated his wife before she died in August at the age of 95.
He has already raised 600 pounds for the surgery and now hopes to reach 1,000 pounds.
Second World War veteran Hake, who has undergone surgery for a triple heart bypass, told Veronica on her deathbed that he wanted her to be with him when he did the jump.
And he kept his promise as he plunged from a plane attached to a skydiving instructor over Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, the Daily Mirror reported.
"It all went very well and I jumped from 10,000ft. I had to be lifted into the plane because I couldn't walk but I wasn't nervous. On the way down it felt like we put on quite an aerobatic show," Hake was quoted as saying by the daily.
"There were about 150 people waiting for me on the ground - it was amazing," he said.
"I thought it was just a walk in the park really and I'm sure she would have thought the same. I'm not a hero, I just did what my wife wanted me to do.The sponsorship money is now rolling in and I hope to raise 1,000 pounds" Hake said.
Donna Wood, a district nurse who looks after Jack and helped him organise the skydive, said: "Jack wasn't fazed in the slightest - he showed no signs of nerves whatsoever. He was absolutely brilliant."
The former fibre glass engineer is already planning his next fundraising challenge, wingwalking.
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First Published: Nov 13 2013 | 3:48 PM IST

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