21 April 2022

A grandmother is proving that it’s never too late to tick something off your bucket list by taking part in Katharine House’s hair-raising wingwalk.

On Thursday 26 May, 78-year-old Carol Holloway will be taking to the skies on the top wing of a Boeing Stearman bi-plane and experiencing an exciting series of flypasts, zoom climbs, steep dives and banks.

The inspirational pensioner said she never lets a little thing like age stop her from doing what she wants.

She said: "I’m used to being the oldest one in the room for things like this. I have always wanted to do a wingwalk, since forever. I missed out on the opportunity to do it when I was younger, and it has always been at the back of my mind."

"I did a parachute jump in my early 40s but haven’t done anything else like it since. When I did the parachute jump - and it wasn’t a tandem, it was on my own - I sat with my feet hanging over the edge and thought, 'I have three young children, I shouldn’t be doing this. What if I don’t bounce when I land!' It will be the same mind over matter experience with the Wingwalk."

"My courage wanes sometimes though, so I will have to be one of the first ones to go otherwise I might change my mind!"

Carol said she was raising money for Katharine House because of how important it was for the community. "It offers people piece of mind, knowing there is somewhere like Katharine House near them that they can use if they need to. My friend’s mother was at Katharine House just before Covid. My friend said how amazing all of the staff were. It meant so much to her that her mother got to spend her last moments in such a special place.

"I think it’s important for Katharine House to run these type of events, so that the mad people get an excuse to do mad things, and raise money for something important at the same time."

To contribute to Carol’s fundraising, please visit her Justgiving page.

Carol will be joined on the wingwalk by her friend and fellow Hook Norton resident Carley Lambourne, who works at Katharine House.

Carley said: "I wanted to raise money for the hospice doing something that would raise my adrenaline; something totally different that would really challenge me.

"Every day I get to see first-hand the amazing things our doctors, nurses and specialists do for patients and their families. The difference they are making to the lives of people in our community is phenomenal and by taking part in things like the wingwalk, hopefully I’ll be helping to make sure they get to carry on doing what they do."

Related pages

• If you want to take part in a challenge event in aid of Katharine House, visit our Challenge events page. 
• To find out more about the work we do, read What we do or explore our For Patients and Families pages.
• To receive regular news about development at the hospice and fundraising events, please sign up to our digital newsletter.