A County Westmeath based priest will make a real leap of faith by skydiving to raise vital funds for his parish. Fearless Fr Tony Gavin from Rosemount in County Westmeath will jump 4.000 metres in a bid to fund a heart defibrillator for his parish.
He said, “I said if I was ever to jump out of a plane it would have to be for a good cause. We are a rural community and it is a bit of a distance to the local hospital if anything happened so the defibrillator will save lives.”
He is hoping to raise around €2,000 from sponsorship to help fund the defibrillator.
And Fr Gavin, who is forty seven and who made the jump Sunday (August 29) added that he is terrified of heights, saying, “I have climbed to the top of the church and school when work needed to be done up there and coming down was not pleasant.”
“I’ll just have to grit my teeth and get on with it.”
Fr Gavin's jump was scheduled to take place at Clonbollogue airfield near Edenderry in County Offaly.
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