Last updated at 20:23, Thursday, 26 April 2012

A West Cumbrian mum, who said that the two years since her son died were the most devastating of her life, will do a charity sky-dive in his memory.

LOST SON: Joanne Foster, mother of David Foster, the 15-year-old from Great Clifton who died last year while camping with friends, is doing a tandem sky dive in July to raise money for Eden Valley Hospice

Joanne Foster, 37, of Stoney Croft, Great Clifton, lost 15-year-old son David on July 22, 2010, after he suffered a fatal asthma attack.

Mrs Foster said: “I’m doing the skydive because it will bring me as close to heaven as I can be at the moment and I will feel closer to David.

“It has been a struggle every day since we lost him. He was adored by all the family and very much the centre of our worlds.

“It has been the most devastating two years but I want to do this to remember him. I am scared because I’ve never done a skydive before but I’m determined to do it for him.

“This year has been even harder in the run-up to the Olympics because David’s dream was to compete in the Olympic Games when he was old enough.

“It’s just heartbreaking that he never got the chance.”

He had gone camping with three friends and petrol they had used to light a camp fire leaked into the tent during the night, which caused the asthma attack.

David, a pupil at Stainburn School, was a keen athlete competing in the javelin at a county level.

The 17,000ft tandem skydive will take place at Cark Airfield, Flookburgh, on July 15 to raise money for Eden Valley Hospice.

The family will also host, a stall at an open day at The Cumberland Lodge on May 6 to raise money for the hospice, and David’s work colleagues Warwick Muir, Jason Roper, Adam Bode and Thomas Mitchell, from Oily’s pub, in Winscales, Workington, will also have their legs waxed.

Mrs Foster and her husband Ken, 36, daughter Abigail, four, and friend Laura Pearson, 26, raised nearly £5,000 for the hospice from a Coast to Coast bike ride from Whitehaven to Sunderland last year.

Mrs Foster added: “We originally wanted to raise money for a local asthma charity but there were none in the area and we wanted the money to stay local so we chose the hospice.

“David was always determined and nothing ever scared him. He definitely would’ve been proud of me doing this, he was such a loveable lad and always so honest, a little cheeky, but everyone who knew him loved him.”

People can make donations for the skydive on http://www.justgiving.com/Joanne-Foster0

First published at 19:18, Thursday, 26 April 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk