A 93-year-old pensioner has raised more than £35,000 after taking on a ziplining challenge – travelling 300 metres across the seafront from a lofty height of 30 metres.
Charles Wylie tackled the longest zip wire on the south coast last weekend to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK.
The former naval officer was inspired by his wife Jean, who has been living with Alzheimer’s disease for the last 12 years, as reported by Whats The Jam.
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With his granddaughter there for support, it was an emotional feat for determined Charles.
He said: “Jean is the love of my life.
“But there’s nothing to be done at present for her dementia.
“So, in her honour, I do it all for our four children, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, as well as half the human race.”
Charles and Jean, 90, from the Meon Valley near Portsmouth, have been married for 68 years and met when Charles gate-crashed a dance in Edinburgh in 1956.
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He said: “Jean looked like Grace Kelly in the crowd and straight away I knew she was the one I would marry.
“Her smile made my legs go weak.
“Not only is she the most beautiful person, she brought up our four children while working as a speech therapist, while I was often away at sea.
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“We now have nine grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
“I want the future to be different for them – and that’s why I’m raising money for dementia research.
“Dementia affects almost one million people in the UK alone and has a huge impact on families like mine.
“Yet today, somewhere, someone alive today could be the first one cured of Alzheimer’s.
“I want to raise as much money towards research as I can so that my grandchildren do not have to go through the heartbreak and devastation that Jean and I have lived through.
“Thanks to research, we understand much more about dementia than we used to.
“People living with dementia today are also helping to shape the future of research.
“They help researchers understand dementia better and help to develop new treatments.
“That’s why research matters for people living with dementia today as well as future generations.
“A cure is in sight – only research will get us there.”
Daring Charles previously parachuted out of a plane with the Red Devils to mark his 90th birthday.
Meanwhile for his 91st, he rowed around Portsmouth harbour on the transatlantic rowing boat, Oardacious.
The following year, he marked his birthday by abseiling down the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, before his zipling adventure this year – all in aid of the charity that has become close to his heart.
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