Charlie jumps from 15k feet, aged 72

He was 72 at the time.

Charlie, who is originally from William Street in the city and moved to England after retiring from the Armed Forces, around 40 years ago, managed to raise £1,400 for his local cancer charity, Swanage CanCare.

Charlie, who turned 73 shortly after jumping from 15,000 feet - the highest skydive possible without oxygen -has been nicknamed the ‘Londonderry Hare’ in Purbeck due to his having completed several marathons for various charities.

According to his local paper, The Purbeck Gazette: “We can now officially call him the ‘Londonderry Air!’

“Fifteen thousand is the highest skydive you can do without a separate oxygen supply, giving you over sixty seconds of ‘freefall’ before the parachute is opened.

“The Gazette paid for Charlie’s instructor to have a GoPro camera strapped to him to capture Charlie’s experience giving us some great jobs of his jump, and a video Charlie can now make the family watch over and over. “

The Londonderry born pensioner took to the skies with a group of other slightly crazy Purbeckians on Sunday, June 7.

Charlie said that he had feared jumping out of an aeroplane for most of his life and had studiously avoided it during his career in the armed services.

However, inspired by fellow citizens in the South West of England he decided to add it it to his charity fundraising repertoire, which as aforementioned, has included multiple marathons, including a 21 mile marathon on the water on the River Thames.

Well done Charlie!