Forces Hero Wing Walks for Royal Marines Association
British forces hero and triple amputee Mark Ormrod completed a wing walk on Monday 30th June to raise funds for the Royal Marines Association. Piloting the plane was our very own Tony Richards who grew up in Sutton Valence and used to be the Utterly Butterly wing walker pilot for air shows!
Mark took to the skies on a 1940s biplane, a Boeing Stearman, and by his side was his wife Becky who joined in the fundraising challenge.Mark explained why he took on the challenge: “This year is the Royal Marines 350th birthday and there are hundreds of serving and former Royal Marines as well as members of the Royal Marines extended family undertaking fundraising challenges worldwide in celebration and I wanted to do my part to contribute.”
“I decided to take part in a host of mini challenges this year to try and raise £50,000 for the Royal Marines Association. So far those challenges have included a 300ft bungee jump, two back to back 15,000ft skydives and now myself and my wife Becky are having a go at wing walking. We chose the wing walk because it is something that neither of us had done before and it looked like the kind of thing that we’d enjoy.”
The adrenaline rush must have been amazing for Mark and I asked him what G-Force he had been under: ” I really have no idea what G-force I was experiencing whilst I was up there but it was a hell of a rush! It reminded me of the free fall stage of a parachute jump except it lasted a lot longer. I was a bit nervous when I first got up there as the harness set up wasn’t quite what I was expecting but once I was strapped in it was fine. My wife Becky took part as well and she loved it – she’s always been into these kind of things but wing walking was a first and something we would both highly recommend to anyone.”
Mark is himself a triple amputee but hasn’t let this disability stop him: “Life as a civilian is crazy and hectic and I actually have to work for a living now lol – but I love it. In terms of whats next I am hoping to climb Ben Nevis this year with an injured friend of mine, I’m also looking at a 10K run towards the end of the year and if there are any other opportunities that pop up between then & now which I think could be great for fund-raising then I’ll get involved if I can and push hard towards that £50,000.”
