Parachute jump “to give back” to cancer charity

Wednesday 03 August 2022

An islander is taking part in a charity parachute jump to raise funds for a cancer charity in memory of her late husband.

Stephanie Le Tissier will be fundraising for The Guernsey Society of Cancer Relief after her husband, John, succumbed to stage four prostate cancer last year. Mrs Le Tissier said she wanted to “give something back”.

“John was a very charitable man, even after his diagnosis he helped the St John with deliveries during the covid pandemic and stood outside Marks & Spencer collecting donations for charity,” said Mrs Le Tissier.

Pictured: John Le Tissier was the co-founder of Alpha Estates. 

Mrs Le Tissier continued: “I can’t fault Bulstrode or the healthcare professionals who helped John and I want to give something back. John had wanted to pass away at home and the healthcare workers made that possible for us so that his close family were around him and he wasn’t alone. I am very grateful for that.

“I know that times are hard for a lot of people financially with the increased cost of living, and I am not one to approach people to ask for money, but I think it’s important to raise money for this charity to give back.”

Mrs Le Tissier said that she had been more surprised by her husband’s diagnosis than he had. 

“John was diagnosed at stage four in 2020; it was too late to do anything by the time he was diagnosed. He knew it was going to be something serious, but I was shocked. I tried to be strong for him but I fell to pieces,” she said. 

“John and I had always had quite a dark sense of humour and he would often joke that he would die before me. A couple of days before he passed away, he joked that he’d told me so. He passed away several days before his 59^th birthday. I have had to harden myself up through the experience with John, particularly because my brother has received a kidney cancer diagnosis."

Pictured: John and Stephanie Le Tissier. 

Mrs Le Tissier said the idea of the parachute jump came from a close family friend. 

“I will be doing the jump with Aimee Browning, who was the daughter of John’s best friend; she always called him ‘Uncle John’ and they were very close,” she said. 

“Aimee approached me after the funeral and said that she wanted to do a parachute jump in his memory. Aimee hates flying so it will be a big jump for her to take in more ways than one. I said I would do it with her so we can support each other.

“I have always been quite ‘extreme’ and I have done a parachute jump previously for a spinal injury charity because I had a spinal injury at 15. What can be more extreme than jumping out of a plane?”

Mrs Le Tissier and Ms Browning will be completing the parachute jump on 27 August. 

You can donate to Mrs Le Tissier’s fundraising pager HERE 

Pictured: Mrs Le Tissier described John Le Tissier as a "very charitable man".