I can say with confidence that before the wing walk I was the polar opposite of an adrenaline junkie. I'd be the friend holding the bags at every theme park, terrified of heights, rollercoasters and all things that involve my feet being off the ground.
However, what I perceived as scary changed entirely on the 20th December 2024, when my best friend since childhood, Olivia, was diagnosed with Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkins Lymphoma. I will always remember her telling me the news of her diagnosis, and immediately feeling like the world had come to a stop. Of course, with every diagnosis the waiting period is one of the most difficult, and you get sent into a spiral worrying about the stage and severity pending the PET scan result. You fret about what is to come, feel furious that they are stripped from their current routine and forced to undergo such a difficult journey, and reminisce about the days before that you took for granted.
And amongst all the emotions you feel yourself, you cannot even fathom the pain and shock they are going through. Nothing you say or do feels enough, and as a massive overthinker myself, I often worried that what I was saying was wrong.
Olivia and I both went to university in 2022 to study Law- Olivia in Birmingham and me in Bristol. Come late January, Olivia was told that her cancer was Stage 2 and that she’d have to undergo a course of radiotherapy. This meant she had to defer her final year. I felt immense guilt that I would be continuing my degree, and that I wasn’t going to be present on the days of her treatment or for general day-to-day support. This was when I started to consider what I could do to help her cause and hopefully boost her morale. I looked into fundraising activities, and it was important I chose something Olivia knew would be a big challenge for me.
I saw that Life Changing Challenges had a partnership with Young Lives vs Cancer, a charity that provided vital support to Olivia, through financial grants, day-to-day support and educational initiatives. Wingwalking and skydiving were both options, but I didn’t feel that skydiving would catch enough attention as people often do it willingly (mad, I know). So, after a call with Young Lives I decided to go ahead with the Wing walk, and we received the most incredible support, raising £1000 in an hour. It was so nice that Olivia could see all the support flooding in, and that so many people loved and stood with her.
August 22nd seemed to come so quickly, and soon I was mounting onto the plane. Despite being very nervous, I was thrilled to do it knowing we raised over £11,200. It was an exhilarating experience; it was super cold, the wind was coming at me at 100mph and wow it was high up! The scariest parts were when the pilot would tip towards the side (even though I told him to go easy on me!), but weirdly I felt more secure than I thought I would. I’m so glad I pushed myself to do something I never thought I could and that it will help Young Lives do what they did for Olivia for other young adults and children. I’d thoroughly encourage any friends or family of someone diagnosed with cancer to take on a challenge like this. It has been a great distraction and something exciting to look forward to.
Young lives vs Cancer wingwalk challenger
Post-wing walk, we had a lovely gathering with all our family and friends to raise funds for Lymphoma Action, and to celebrate Olivia being in remission!
What a year it has been! Thank you to everyone who donated to this challenge, and most importantly, thank you Liv for being the most incredible, inspirational young woman. I am endlessly proud of you.
Guest blogger - Georgia Marshall
Mum 13.03.1939 to 22.09.2022 Missed so very much by so many. 
