A 78-YEAR-OLD Dooradoyle man who completed a 30,000-foot skydive at the weekend in aid of brain aneurysm research said he was so relaxed on the way up “he could have dozed off”.
Michael Sheahan, a grandfather of ten, completed the parachute jump in Kilkenny on Sunday, raising approximately €12,000 for the University of Limerick Adrienne Hussey Scholarship, which supports cranial aneurysm research.
“It went off terrifically, I’m delighted with it. I wasn’t scared at all; it was super. I said a prayer and I was so relaxed after it that I could have dozed off,” Michael told the Limerick Post.
“It was the most gorgeous day and the scenery was just beautiful. The patterns of the fields and the colours were like an artist’s painting. The wind on the way down was unbelievable, it was like getting a facelift, but I really enjoyed it.”
Michael decided to undertake the skydive when he and his five sons – Padraig, Kevin, Robert, John and Fergus – began organising fundraising activities in aid of aneurysm research following the sudden loss of Michael’s beloved wife Evelyn last July due to a cerebral aneurysm.
Now, rather than taking a well-deserved break after jumping from a plane, Michael says he is planning to carry out more fundraising work for the cause.
He said: “We want to do more. People have been very good so far. One thing I’ve been amazed by is the amount of people who have been affected by aneurysms.”
The Adrienne Hussey Scholarship at UL was founded by the charity Friends of A in memory of Adrienne, the 2010 Texas Rose who passed away in January 2012 aged 26 as a result of a ruptured brain aneurysm.
