Blind woman takes on wing walking challenge in aid of charity

BBC News

2 days ago

"People often have low expectations of blind people, and I want to combat that by attempting extreme things."Mel Griffiths says being blind motivates her to try extreme sports to show that blindness does not stop people from doing exciting things too.In her latest venture, the 60-year-old will be reaching new heights - wing walking at 700ft (213m) to raise money for the Guide Dogs charity.She said: "I'm no good at cake sales and things like that - I'd much rather strap myself to a plane instead."
Mrs Griffiths, from Arnold in Nottinghamshire, will complete the wing walk on 8 August at Wickenby in Lincolnshire.She will be strapped on to a wing for about ten minutes and will travel at speeds of up to 120 mph (193km/h).
Her inspiration came from watching people wing walking on an episode of Blue Peter 50 years ago.She added: "I remember watching it on telly and thinking, 'wow, I'd love to do this'."I've had poor eyesight ever since I was a little girl, and at the time, I didn't think wing walking was possible for someone like me."But now, I like to show off and prove to people that we can do anything. I've done everything from parachute jumps to abseiling - and it won't stop there!"In terms of preparation, Mrs Griffiths said she had spoken to the pilot in advance."[The pilot] told me he'd never worked with a blind person before, so that should be fun," she said. "He said he's never dropped anyone, though, so I'll be fine."
Mrs Griffiths said her husband Gavin Griffiths was a massive inspiration. He is due to play at Wimbledon in August as part of a national competition for visually impaired competitors.She said: "Me and him encourage each other - he pushes me more and more, and I do the same for him."We are both proving that the sky is the limit for people like us, and we hope we can motivate other people in the community to do the same."The pair are actually taking on their challenges on the same day - with Mrs Griffiths heading across to Lincolnshire and Gavin to Wimbledon on 8 August.
Mrs Griffiths said she was wing walking on behalf of the Guide Dogs charity because it had supported her throughout her life."I got my first guide dog at 24, and she gave me the freedom and independence to live my life to the fullest," she said.She has raised over £2,500 of her £5,000 target so far.She added: "It now costs the charity around £100,000 to raise and train a guide dog from being a puppy to adulthood. "It's so important for them to keep going as guide dogs to enable people to live their lives to the fullest."Kim Hutchings, local community fundraising manager at Guide Dogs, said: "As a charity, we rely almost entirely on donations to keep our life-changing services for people with sight loss running."We wish Mel the best of luck with this exciting challenge and with reaching her fundraising target."