Reaching new heights

It is estimated that over the next decade around 60,000 people in the UK will be diagnosed with mouth cancer and without early detection an half of those will not survive.

That is why Louise, Dental Advisor at British Dental Health Foundation, felt that it was important to go to extremes to highlight the issue.

Louise has seen cases of mouth cancer increase by 50 per cent since she first started working for the charity ten years ago, so was keen to volunteer when the opportunity arose to perform a tandem skydive at Brackley Parachute Centre in Oxford.

Of her experience, self-confessed adrenaline junkie Louise said: “I felt no fear when it came to jumping out of a plane but nothing could prepare me for the overwhelming experience. The main thing I will remember will be the noise when in freefall where we reached speeds of up to 120mph. It was deafening and I could hardly catch my breath, but when the parachute opened everything was so peaceful. It was a truly amazing experience.