Grateful dad of Beatrix Archbold skydives 15,000ft to mark year since daughter's heart transplant
A grateful dad has skydived from 15,000ft to raise money for charity - a year after his daughter’s life was saved by a heart transplant.
Terry Archbold tackled the daunting jump at Peterlee to fundraise for the Sunderland-based Red Sky Foundation.
‘I’d much prefer staying inside the plane’
Terry admitted: “Not gonna lie, I didn't want to do it, I'd much prefer staying inside the plane! Everyone who signed up is absolutely amazing.”
Instead, they jumped at the weekend and raised more than £24,000.
Terry added: “On behalf of all the parents of poorly children helped by Red Sky, a MASSIVE THANKS.”
He said plans were already being made for another jump in aid of Red Sky next year.
What a difference a year has made for little miracle Beatrix.
Feisty and full of life
One year on, she is a ‘feisty’ little girl who is full of life , according to dad Terry and mum Cheryl, who is from Roker.
Beatrix's story first unfolded in May 2022. The Archbold family had returned from a trip to Disney World in Florida and thought Beatrix caught Covid.
Bea’s heart was not working properly
She had stopped drinking, had a rash on her neck and the family dialled 111.
After going to A&E, a doctor at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead detected a heart murmur. Tests showed one side of her heart was enlarged and not functioning properly.
She had an operation to fit a line into her body so she could receive medication but she had a cardiac arrest and was saved by expert surgeons at the Freeman Hospital who performed open heart surgery.
Ten hour heart transplant last year
Last summer, she had a 10-hour operation and soon after, went home after spending 15 months attached to tubes at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.
Join the NHS Organ Donor Register at www.organdonation.nhs.uk