A fearless thrill-seeking Kinross grandmother decided to drop 10,000ft out of an aeroplane to raise funds for a project very close to her heart.
Jo Middlemiss (74) reached up to 120mph during a 30-second freefall in the skies over Fife before an instructor deployed the parachute at around 5000 feet.
While Jo admits she recalls little of the initial plunge from Glenrothes with St Andrews Skydive, floating down to the ground thereafter was a “beautiful” experience as proud family members awaited with a smile.
“We were chugging up, chugging up and everything was fine,” Jo explained to the PA with a chuckle.
“The chap then hung me out of the plane and I thought: ‘Oh my gosh’.
“When I was dropping I wasn’t capable of thinking anything. I was incapable of thought.
“But when the big jerk comes and you begin floating down, that was beautiful. We had a fabulous day, the sky was blue and the sun shining.
“It was peaceful, I loved it and I managed to land without breaking anything!”
Jo was raising funds for the Ethiopia Medical Project (EMP), the charity she co-founded with cousin Maureen Burnett after getting to know the community of the Buccama Clinic.
The clinic has expanded to become the Buccama Health Centre with two wards, a laboratory and more than 20 members of staff, including five qualified nurses.
“Our charity has been going for about 13 years and this is the first sponsored event we have done,” revealed Jo, who was also doing the skydive in memory of her much-missed son, Oliver.
“Due to Covid, our fundraising has been so restricted. I thought I better do something more dramatic to keep the charity in the eye.”
And Jo has certainly done that. Her JustGiving page for the skydive has raised more than £3500 and donations coming in from elsewhere have allowed that figure to climb significantly.
“The support has been absolutely fantastic,” Jo beamed. “We’ve had donations of £10, £20 and sometimes a whopper like £100. There has also been a couple of very generous anonymous donations to the website.
“We pay the salaries of 22 people every year. Those 22 people and their families and the community are dependant on that. That is what keeps me doing these things.
“The money goes directly to the clinic.”
Jo will again see the significant impact the charity is making when she travels to Ethiopia this week to spend 28 days at the health centre.
“A year ago we sent out a container packed with stuff the clinic needs,” Jo said.
“And it has gone through unbelievable hiccups. It has been stuck in Djibouti until now.
“But it finally arrived at the clinic on Friday past so they are going to wait until we get there to open it.
“I always say it is like Comic Relief without the camera.
“They line-up, cheer, dance and hold up placards. The greeting is overwhelming.
“The next day, it is like we have been there forever. We get to work and the patients keep coming.”
Of course, Jo will continue to give her all to the fundraising cause but another skydive may be out of the question.
“It was fine, we landed,” she laughed.
You can still donate at www.justgiving.com/campaign/josjump and, for more information on the EMP charity, see www.ethiopiamedicalproject.com/
