JUMPING 13,000 feet from a plan is no ordinary way to celebrate your 60th birthday, but that is exactly how Janet Romijn celebrated hers.

The adrenalin junkie, who works as a team leader at Marlborough Lodge care home, has been desperate to do a skydive for the past 20 years but her daughters Lucy, 27, and Emily, 24, would never let her.

However, when Mrs Romijn, of Purlyn Acre, Malborough, was writing out a list of things she would like for her birthday, at the top of it was a skydive.

So, her daughters decided to finally give in and surprise her with vouchers to jump from thousands of feet in the air with the help of the professionals at The Army Parachute Association based in Netheravon.

Mrs Romijn also thought what better way to do it, than raise money for the residents she has been looking after for the past nine years, so instead of presents she also asked people to sponsor her with the money going towards the residents’ amenity fund, used for taking them out on trips.

And on July 19, five days after her birthday, she took to the skies with a professional and had the best seat in the house as she took in the breathtaking views of Wiltshire. Even having to wait five hours until the weather conditions were prefect, she still had nerves of steel.

“It was amazing, absolutely amazing,” she said. “I wasn’t scared at all because I’ve always wanted to do it. I just enjoyed the whole thing.

“I thought if I was doing something like that, I thought I would try and raise money for the amenity fund for our residents and I thought what better thing to do for my birthday and the residents could celebrate as well.

“The staff thought I was absolutely mad. Some of the residents were concerned for my safety but enjoyed watching my video.”

Mrs Romijn managed to raise £300 and one of her colleagues is now trying to persuade her to do it all again to raise money for Alzheimer’s Support.

Molly Holder, the granddaughter of resident Pam Nazer, has also been busy raising money for the care home by decorating horseshoes and selling them at school fetes and carboot sales.