A man who is preparing to do a 13,000ft skydive in memory of his mother who was brutally murdered by her neighbour says the reasons he is doing it will spur him on.
Daniel Galloway, who lives in Kirby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, said the police visited him in 2019 to tell him his mother – Vera Hudson – had been killed at her home in Hull.
Mark Jewitt, 25, of Constable Street, Hull, was handed a life sentence in 2020 and ordered to serve at least 15 years after admitting Ms Hudson’s murder.
Mr Galloway has since been fundraising in her memory for Victim Support, who helped him and his family after the tragedy.
Remembering the time when his mother died, aged 57, Mr Galloway said: “Police sat us down and told us my mum had been murdered by her neighbour and that she had been hit with a dumbbell about 50 or 60 times across her head, and her body had been left on the stairway.
“I couldn’t really believe it… [I kept] still expecting to get calls from her.”
The 37-year-old said the memory was still “fresh… because my mum’s story is still on Netflix”.
He said: “Every one of my friends and family say she’d be proud of me that I’m trying to do something for others.”
Mr Galloway says he plans to take on the skydive once he reached his target of £3,000, and he has made £1,000 so far.
Talking about the skydive, he added: “I’ll probably be a bit nervous, but I know the reasons behind it and that’s a big encouragement.”
He said he was paying for the skydive so all money raised will go to charity.
Mr Galloway said the first fundraiser he did was a 57 mile (92km) walk Bridlington to Hull with his brother – Darren Slack – and he also organised a music charity event.
Next, he plans to do an 1,000km (621 mile) walk with his brother, and in the future aims to walk the Great Wall of China.
