ADVER reporter Katie Bond threw herself out of a plane from 10,000ft in the sky at the weekend to raise money for charity.

Katie, 25, of Haydon Wick, completed a tandem skydive at Redlands Airfield in Wanborough to help Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

She took on the challenge after her nan Pam Parry-Jones was diagnosed with the illness last October.

Pam, 81, of Chippenham, has now undergone both chemotherapy and radiotherapy at the Royal United Hospital in Bath to help treat the cancer and was able to attend the skydive on Saturday with daughter Nicola.

Katie said: “Saturday was absolutely freezing but it was much worse when I was 10,000 ft up in the sky.

“I wasn’t that nervous before the jump, but as we were going up in the plane I couldn’t believe how high we had to get before the door was opened ready for us to jump.

“Surprisingly, the worst part wasn’t jumping out the plane, it was the free fall because it was so, so cold, and it made it so difficult to breathe, it was such a strange feeling.

“Once the parachute was up, it was much easier to actually look around at Swindon from the air and enjoy it.

“It was such an amazing experience coming in to land at the airfield, I would definitely recommend it to other people – but maybe on a slightly warmer day.

“I was really pleased my nan was able to come and watch too – she has been pretty ill over the past few months, so it was great that she could be there on the day.”

Katie has raised about £400 for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, the country’s leading charity committed to fighting breast cancer through research, campaigning and education.

“I’d like to thank everybody that sponsored me and helped raise more vital funds for the charity,” she said.

“Everybody knows somebody that has been affected by breast cancer, so I am pleased to have been able to help the charity in some way.”

For more information on how you can donate to the charity visit the website at http://www.breakthrough.org.uk/