Last week, Don Keiller celebrated his 100th birthday on Monday, did an Indoor Skydive on Friday, and had raised nearly £4,000 for the Royal British Legion by Sunday.
Don, who weas born in East London before living in Cumbria, was joined by his Don Junior, (64), Selina (52), and grandchildren Darcie, (18), and the twins Harry & Max (16) all from Cambridge. The whole family were ‘blown away’ by Don’s flying skills.
Instructor for the day, Will Hanbury-Tenison, was also impressed and said: “I get to fly a lot of people and Don is right up there with the best of the newcomers. They obviously made them tough back then”.
Originally Don was going to make a skydive from a plane but COVID made that a bit difficult. Instead, he headed indoors and got to fly twice as much and enjoy the same sensations.
When asked about the indoor skydives, Don said: “To do something as exhilarating as Indoor Skydiving whilst raising money for charity has been an enormous pleasure. It's easily the best thing I've done since I turned 100. It goes to show that it doesn't matter who you are, how old you are or what you've been through in life, there's nothing to stop you getting out there, fulfilling your ambitions and doing something worthwhile. Thanks to all at iFLY for making it possible and to the team at RBLI for the great work they do for veterans.”
Charities across the country have seen a huge donation decline in the past four months of about 40%. The adventurous veteran is helping reverse the trend with the support of iFLY Indoor Skydiving and is close to £4,000 in support fellow veterans.
Don is no stranger to adrenaline experiences, during the war he had multiple postings around the world and finished as a Warrant Officer having served with The Royal Artillery, Royal Tank Regiment and seconded to the Royal Marines.
