Dad prepares for skydive to boost our Angels appeal

11:18am Friday 2nd May 2008

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A FATHER-of-two who longed to do a bungee jump decided to go one step further and plunge 10,000 feet in aid of The Press Guardian Angel's Appeal.

Matthew Newbold admits nerves have yet to take hold - but he still has four months of fundraising to go until the adrenalin-pumping skydive on August 23.

The 33-year-old, who will be joined by his sister-in-law, Sian Davies, for the challenge, was inspired to raise cash for Guardian Angels by his own family's experience.

The appeal is only £50,000 away from its £300,000 target, and work has already begun on creating York Hospital's new high-dependency unit for children.

Matthew and his wife, Claire, who live in York, have two children, Keelie, four and Jack, 17 months. Jack suffered breathing difficulties shortly after he was born in November 2006.

He had bronchialitus and was kept in hospital for a few days but now enjoys good health.

"You don't realise how lucky you are," said Matthew. "Some people are in lot worse conditions. I chose Guardian Angels because of the way York Hospital looked after Jack, and because it is a good cause."

The construction company site foreman explained Jack was having trouble breathing between Christmas and New Year 2006.

"We took him to the doctors. They just said it wasn't on his chest and that was it. But we wanted a second opinion. We went to the children's ward at York Hospital. They gave him a chest X-ray and kept him in." He said: "They were feeding him through a tube. The nurses were great. I stayed one night and my wife stayed the next. If he needed feeding they didn't wake us. They just did it. They were brilliant.

"Jack is fine now other than that. It is just that if he gets a cold it goes to his chest and he suffers more than anyone else. We have been back to hospital for X-rays.

"Seeing all the little children there and the way staff are with them is fantastic."

Matthew has not set himself a fundraising target but would like to raise as much as possible.

"I have always wanted to do a bungee jump, for the thrill," he said. However he said Claire, a ward clerk on York Hospital's children's ward, was not as keen on the idea so when he saw the charity sky dive advertised he and Sian decided to take the plunge.

"I am looking forward to it. I am not nervous at the moment but I don't know what I will be like when it gets nearer the time."

To sponsor Matthew, phone him on 01904 761400.