Published by the Harborough Mail16th October 2020
A Market Harborough businesswoman has conquered her fear of heights to abseil down an 80ft bridge in memory of her beloved mum.
Jen Parker, 34, carried out the heart-stopping stunt to support the LOROS hospice which helped to care for her late mum Viv.
And she’s now within touching distance of hitting her £3,000 fundraising target.
Jen Parker conquered her crippling fear of heights to abseil down an 80ft bridge in memory of her beloved mum.
“It was absolutely terrifying.
Ecstatic Jen said:
“But I’m just so proud to have done it – and I know my mum would be proud of me too.
“I thought the world of her.
“And I’m just so pleased to be able to boost the LOROS hospice which looked after my mum so well in her final weeks with us.”
Jen said her mum passed away in March 2019 aged just 63 after battling breast cancer for 11 years.
“She was just such an immense figure in my life and was an absolute rock when my first daughter was born.
“Mum was doing pretty well but suddenly fell very ill again and the end came quite quickly,” said the award-winning mum-of-two.
“I was expecting my second baby at the time and the sudden blow came as a massive shock.
“My mum would have been 65 on September 18 this year.
“So I did the abseil on September 19 to remember and salute her,” said Jen, who runs Fuzzy Flamingo, a specialist design and editing services company.
“I’ve been planning to do something special for both my mum and LOROS since January.
“I hate heights and my mum did too – but she loved bridges!
“So I put together a team of nine men and women to abseil 80ft down Bridge 75 in Millers Dale in Derbyshire’s stunning Peak District.
“On the day the hardest thing was stepping off this very narrow ledge on the bridge to begin descending.
“Every natural instinct told me to stay on the bridge.
“I stood there 80ft up in the air thinking to myself ‘I can’t do this’.
“But my amazing team-mates and the instructor kept telling me I could do it.
“And I could definitely feel my mum right there with me on that bridge.
“She was at the very forefront of my mind.
“I started to abseil down and suddenly felt weirdly calm, almost as if I was entering another dimension altogether,” said Jen.
“I had such a rush of adrenalin when I hit the ground that I went back up and did it again!”
She is thrilled that she has raised over £2,900 for LOROS in the last few weeks alone.
“I am overwhelmed with the astonishing support that I’ve had.
“From little gifts of good luck running up to the challenge, a free mini-therapy session and messages of goodwill.
“I was backed up by an incredible team on the day and so many generous donors in these strange times have blown me away,” said Jen.
“Apart from giving my mum such brilliant personal care and love in her final weeks, LOROS gave both me and my brother Mark grief counselling.
“And I’d be struggling a lot more if we hadn’t received that, it was absolutely invaluable and helped me so much.
“LOROS, like many other charities, has struggled really badly during this long Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s more crucial than ever that we support such critical charities and organisations – both for their good and the good of all the people they support.
“So a huge thank you again to all the people who have swung behind me – I really appreciate it.”
If you would like to help Jen crash through her £3,000 barrier you can make a donation on her website here
