Paramotor pilot has finished an emotional solo flight down the entire length of Great Britain to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s research.
The 27-year-old, Daniel Jones from Norwich, set off from John O’Groats, Scotland on 16th August and landed at Land’s End in England yesterday (23rd August.)
He made this fundraising flight in tribute to his grandparents who sadly passed away with Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia.
“It’s been unreal,” he exclaimed as the total funds raised totalled more the £7000.
The whole 800-mile (1,287km) flight had taken Dan around a year to plan with a fundraising target of £2,021.
“I wanted to do something in nanny and grandad’s name, to get younger people talking about dementia and to help fight a disease that shouldn’t happen to anyone,” said Dan Jones.
“I still think I’m in a daze even after my final landing,” said Mr Jones. “The whole trip down the UK has been unreal.”
It took Dan a week to fly the entire length of the UK mainland from Caithness to Cornwall, only stopping one day due to heavy rain. He spent around 35 hours in the air and reached speeds above 70mph (110km/h).
His dad followed him all the way in a supporting van on the ground and Sunday he had a bit of a shock when Dan had to make an emergency landing due to an engine issue just after leaving Weston-Super-Mare.
“It was a heavy landing with my wing [flight canopy] getting caught in a tree and swinging me through – I gave dad kittens. I felt fine but was sore the next morning,” he shared.
Just after landing for the final time in Cornwall Mr Jones had this to say:
“I feel pretty good. Tired, emotionally exhausted, but happy.
“The whole trip has been amazing, the support has been overwhelming – from the people turning up at the landing sites to say hello and bring snacks, to those who’ve kindly donated what they can to help the fundraising.
“There’s been a lot of tears, especially after I got to the end and thought about nanny and grandad and the whole reason I wanted to do this challenge.”
Alzheimer’s Research UK believe that without the discovery of a cure around one in three people born today will develop dementia.
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