Blind veteran to parachute 10,000ft for charity

Danny Gibbon says the jump will "bring back some memories" of his days in the army

A blind veteran paratrooper is taking one final jump out of a plane to raise money for a military charity.

Danny Gibbon, from Swindon, enlisted in the army at the age of 17 in 1954 to honour his father, who was killed at Dunkirk during World War Two.

Now aged 88, he has been diagnosed with macular degeneration and recently had cataracts surgery, which has left him with a small amount of sight in one eye.

Mr Gibbon will parachute 10,000ft later, to raise money for Blind Veterans UK, which "gave him his life back" after losing his vision.

Mr Gibbon said he joined the parachute regiment for the "excitement and thrill" of landing in enemy territory.

Mr Gibbon served for five years in tours in Cyprus, Egypt, Norway and Germany

Going back to his roots, he will be parachuting into Netheravon Airfield in Salisbury, where he completed a training course 70 years ago.

He said: “It was a bit scary when I first started but you soon get your rhythm, and if you refused to jump, you’d be court martialled."

This time, Mr Gibbon will be strapped to a trained professional, free-falling for "quite a distance" before deploying the parachute.

When Mr Gibbon was certified as partially sighted, he and his wife Carol went through a period of feeling "helpless and alone".

“We have no children or family left and we were really struggling. We didn’t know what to do," Mrs Gibbon said.

Mr Gibbon will be landing at Netheravon Airfield in Salisbury, where he trained in his youth

After going online to search for help, Mrs Gibbon came across Blind Veterans UK, who have been helping ex-service men and women rebuild their lives after sight loss since 1915.

She said: “Within two weeks we had a home visit from a support worker and we’ve never looked back. Everything just felt better.

“It’s just knowing that somebody was there, because you can’t describe how isolated we both felt as we had nobody to help us."

Mr Gibbon added: "Getting in touch with the charity is the best thing I’ve ever done, which is why I wanted to do something to give back.”

Victoria Beech, from Blind Veterans UK, said: "We are all so proud of Danny for taking on this massive challenge.

"Not only will the money Danny raises help provide equipment and rehabilitation for other blind veterans, but he is also showing others that there is a life after sight loss and he is living it."