Teen barred from skydive 'due to Down's syndrome'

Lloyd Martin enjoys all sports and holds a Guinness World Record after running the London marathon

The mother of a teenager who turned up to a planned charity skydive says she was told he couldn’t jump because he has Down's syndrome.

Lloyd Martin, 19, whose family are from Cardiff, had raised £2,500 for his gymnastics club ahead of the sponsored tandem skydive in Wiltshire.

Lloyd became a Guinness World Record holder in April for being the youngest person with his specific disability to complete a marathon anywhere in the world.

GoSkydive has apologised and said they now want to get to know Lloyd better before taking him skydiving.

Lloyd had been looking forward to the skydive near Salisbury on Thursday but his mum, Ceri Hooper, said she was told it was now called-off.

Ms Hooper said the head instructor explained it was because of worries about how Lloyd would react during the jump.

"We’re used to having many doors shut in our faces in the past, but this just brings everything back," Ms Hooper said.

Lloyd has raised £2,500 for new facilities at his gymnastic club, Prime Acrobatics, in Camberley

"We turned up, we did the briefing, everything was fine.

"But then he [the instructor] came over. He said ‘we don’t know how someone with Down's syndrome is going to react when they jump out of a plane'.

"Well, you don’t know how anyone is going to react when they jump out of a plane," Ms Hooper added.

"We were all shocked. They didn't come and talk to Lloyd."

Ms Hooper said medical checks by Lloyd's GP confirmed he was "fit to jump" and she says the company knew about Lloyd’s disability when they booked.

"I can’t believe they allowed us to book," Ms Hooper added.

Lloyd's mother, Ceri Hooper, said they've faced barriers over the years with inclusivity

"We’ve raised all this money, the fundraising for the gym, we’ve all had days off work, we’ve arrived, and it’s a 'no'."

Lloyd’s grandparents had travelled from Cardiff to cheer him on, but the incident had left Lloyd very disappointed.

"The rest of the team decided not to jump because Lloyd couldn't, and Lloyd was disappointed about that," she said.

"We’ve had so many barriers, so many doors shut in our face in the past.

"We’ve felt we're getting somewhere with inclusivity, and then this happens."

GoSkydive's managing director Gordon Blamire said he supports his team's decision to "get to know Lloyd better before taking him skydiving".

"There is no doubt that we could have better communicated the requirement for Lloyd to be assessed prior to his visit to GoSkydive, for this we are extremely apologetic.

"We continue to learn and improve our interactions and this instance drives direct change in our policies.

"While we understand the frustrations of Lloyds’ family, our commitment is to Lloyd’s wellbeing. We want the opportunity to get to know Lloyd, his conditions and what he needs from us before we can take him skydiving."

The national governing body, British Skydiving, says anyone with a disability should speak to the chief instructor at the sky diving school before entering into any commitment.

Additional reporting by Colette Hume.