Shropshire care home employee takes to the skies in honour of mum who died of kidney disease

Macy Winwood, a care assistant at Wheatlands Care Home in Much Wenlock, recently completed a sponsored skydive and raised more than £1,200 for the charity.

Residents of the home, their relatives and staff went to cheer her on on the day and resident Arthur, who is 94, said he would like to give it a go next.

The skydive was in honour of Macy's mum Tanya Evans who died last year after a long battle with kidney disease. She was described as a "courageous" woman who would "light up any room she was in".

Commenting on her Just Giving page, Macy said: "Growing up my mom has suffered with diabetes and always kept it under control as she lived with it from an early age.

"In February 2019 she fell ill with a sore throat that severe she was taken to hospital. They then discovered it was bacterial meningitis which mainly attacked her kidneys.

"In March 2019 after realising it was meningitis, she was in the ICU with every cable imagined attached to her, I remember walking in and trying to make light of the situation and told her to get back to space as she was wearing an oxygen mask that covered her entire face and yet she still laughed.

"In April 2019 she began dialysis as her kidneys had completely stopped working in such a small amount of time.

"My mum never admitted to being unwell, she deemed herself as special – and she was believe me, she never let this disease change her at all she was so determined to accomplish new goals and still make so many memories, no matter how many hospital visits or her weeks mainly being taken up by dialysis.

"She always managed to keep such a positive attitude towards life. She even took me and my brother Owen to dialysis with her and showed us how her machine worked, she also introduced us to the nurses and other people who were also having dialysis and they are like a massive family.

"Towards the end of mums life she underwent 11 amputations, including both legs and 9 fingers (still managed a thumbs up though didn't she)."

The team at Wheatlands Care Home said they were incredibly proud of Macy who has become a big part of the Wheatlands family since she started her role four months ago.

Kidney Care UK offers support to kidney patients and their families and works hard to improve health and care services across the UK.

To support Macy's fundraiser visit justgiving.com/fundraising/macys-skydive.