Karen Smith is one of our St John’s night sitters – she visits patients in their own homes and stays with them overnight, so that their carer can have a good night’s sleep, safe in the knowledge their loved one is being looked after. On top of this, Karen has a personal connection to the Hospice; in 2020, her best friend Julie was a patient here at St John’s, for the last five days of her life.

It was the height of the Covid pandemic, but because Julie was on our ward, Karen was able to visit her until the end. Having found great comfort in this, she decided to fundraise in her friend’s memory. Having wanted to experience a skydive for a while, Karen’s husband bought her a tandem skydive with video footage included for Christmas.

Karen wanted to use this opportunity to raise some funds for St John’s Hospice and help everyone who benefits from our services. She set up her JustGiving page and has raised just over £1,500!

Karen said ” It was amazing & I didn’t feel scared as I just focused on all those people that we care for who have no choice in what they have to face and that put it all into perspective for me.”

You can see Karen’s incredible skydive from 15,000 feet here: