Skydiving trio raise $5k for Cancer Society

A trio of Summerset in the Sun women aged between 75 and 86 have raised more than $5,000 between them for the Cancer Society Nelson Tasman by jumping out of a plane for their first skydive.

Carol Ercolano, 86 and turning 87 in December, Dorothy Cochrane, 80 and Joyce Pascoe, 75, made 600 cheese rolls to order for residents at the Stoke retirement village which alone contributed $1,000 to their final tally that also included a disco at the village and raffles.

The trio have a combined age of 241 years and taking a tandem jump from a plane at 13,000 feet on Saturday was all part of living life to the full. As they were preparing to take flight, Joyce warned she would be “screaming all the way down” and afterwards admitted the enormity of what they were doing really hit home as the plane was climbing.

“I was so scared – I said: ‘I can’t do this!’ And the first part was so scary. You’re face down and feel so helpless and everything is rushing at you. Then the chute opened and that was the best part!”

Dorothy has been wanting to skydive for years, and on the ground after the jump she was already contemplating her next one.

It may be the first skydive for the trio, but the adventurous spirit has been around for a while. Joyce has had her adrenalin pumping in the past with a bungy jump and Carol’s hobby in her younger years was caving or “potholing”.

She has explored deep under Mt Owen and been at the bottom of Harwood’s Hole and is now an honorary life member of the Nelson Speleological Group she formed with fellow cavers in 1960.

“Because I was small, I used to go through the little spaces to see if anything was worth looking at.”

This time she was high above the ground, free-falling from a plane with her tandem buddy before soaring under the parachute.

“I thought it would be good to do something out of my comfort zone.”

She has wanted to fly as long as she can remember, so much so, she “flew in my dreams” as a child and after her skydive recited a poem she wrote about flying that was not only long, but captivating.

The trio decided to plunge from a plane after watching four Summerset in the Sun men jump last year. That was the first time the retirement village took part in Jump for Cancer which is a partnership between the Cancer Society and skydiving companies by arranging tandem jumps to raise funds.

“It just looked such fun,” Joyce says. “You could see on their faces they were so exhilarated, and I thought, I want it!”

Statistically, one in three people get cancer and two of the three skydivers are cancer survivors. Carol says the high rates of cancer means everyone knows someone who has had cancer which makes it a good reason to jump out of a plane to raise money.