When Sue told us she wanted to do something special for her 89th birthday, we knew she did not mean a cake and a card.
Sue has jumped out of an aeroplane with a parachute. She has squeezed through tight gaps to explore caves. Only recently she climbed all 155 steps of Portland Bill Lighthouse and came back down with a badge to prove it. So when she said she wanted to fly, we took her at her word.
I put a post on Facebook asking if anyone could help make Sue’s wish happen. Nick Barnes, a pilot with Dorset Gliders Club, got in touch and offered to take her up himself.
On Wednesday 14 October, the day after her birthday, Sue will take off from Eyres Field near Wareham in a glider. Nick is planning to fly her over her home in Poundbury and then along the Dorset coast.
Sue has already done her safety checks and sat in the glider. She told us it was smaller than she expected, and that this only made it more exciting.
“I’m very excited about it. It’s like being a bird, really,” she said. “I wanted to do something exciting. That doesn’t fade when you get old.”
Sue walks every day and says it is what keeps her going. Her advice to anyone getting older is simple: “If they’re alive, they ought to live it. You don’t want rubbish old years; they’re gifts.”
Caron from our team put it best: “She’s incredible, she’s such an inspiration. I think we should all take a leaf out of her book.”
Sue’s family and friends, the Helping Hands team and the Mayor of Dorchester, Councillor Les Fry BEM, will all be at the airfield to cheer her off and welcome her back down.
This is what companion care is about for us. Not just help around the house, but helping people keep doing the things that make them feel alive. We will share the photos from the day here once Sue is safely back on the ground.
Sue’s story was also covered by the Dorset Echo: https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/26609118.dorchester-woman-fly-glider-89th-birthday/
