Plucky schoolboy Joe Wych is set to plunge a heart-stopping 300ft to raise money for Cancer Research after his mum Susann was diagnosed with the disease.

The 14-year-old Malmesbury School student was keen to do something positive after having to watch his mum endure painful chemotherapy treatment in her battle to beat breast cancer.

Much to her shock and surprise, he decided to take on Britain’s highest bungee jump which involves leaping from the top of a crane almost twice as tall as Nelson’s Column.

“Yeah, it’s a bit scary,” admitted Joe, of Upper Minety. “My friends think I’m mad. But there’s no going back – I’m definitely up for it.”

Mother-of-two Mrs Wych, 50, was diagnosed with breast cancer in the summer and is now going through the rigorous treatment of chemotherapy to be followed by radiotherapy.

Joe felt that he couldn’t just sit around and do nothing and decided to turn the family’s heartache and anxiety into something positive.

But he wasn’t quite sure what until he and his dad Chris, a 46 year-old business unit controller, came across a website that offers the chance to have a crack at the UK’s highest bungee jump.
Organised by the UK Bungee Club, the 300ft plummet only takes place on selective days in the year at Bray Lake near Windsor and a site in Manchester.

Joe immediately thought “that’s for me” and will now hurl himself from one of the country’s largest cranes on Easter Monday, April 6 next year.
He said: “I wanted to do something a bit special, a bit different so I could raise as much money as possible.

“Because of what’s happening to my mum I felt I wanted to do something for Cancer Research which helps families in our position and also aims to find a cure.”
However he admits: “I’ve never been up that high before so I don’t know what it will be like.”

Joe initially targeted £300 from his fund raising leap of faith but after he and his sister Ella, 16, both posted the event on their Facebook sites cash pledges began to soar.

They swiftly shot to £500 and at the time of writing Joe – whose dad has now created a Just Giving web-page for the fund – has been promised 655.

He is now looking to raise £800 – and possibly hit the £1,000 mark as the word begins to spread. Joe said: “It’s obviously been very hard on us all to watch my mum go through the chemotherapy process.

“She’s a very strong person and stays very positive.”

Mrs Wych, who was recently forced to quit her job as an early learning assistant at Crudwell pre-school because of her condition, said: “I think what Joe’s doing is brilliant. I was really shocked when he told me.

“He’s a good lad and it’s a really brave thing to do.”

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