A BROTHER and sister from Welshpool have jumped from 10,000 feet in memory of their two school friends: Charlie Birch, who was killed in a hit-and-run in Cyprus, and Tim James, who died from Sepsis in March.

Sara and Sam Wildblood attended Welshpool High School with both Charlie and Tim: Sara was in the same school year as Tim, and her brother Sam, who is two years younger, was in the same year as Charlie. They decided to do a charity parachute jump after their two childhood friends died in the same year.

“It is sad. It’s really scary losing two friends in the same year.

“We had a big circle of friends. A lot of people had the same sadness and loss,” Sara said.

The siblings’ skydive fundraiser took place last Saturday, November 10, to raise money for two separate causes; half going to Sepsis UK, and the other half going to Charlie Birch’s family. However, on hearing about the fundraiser, Charlie Birch’s family decided that they would instead like to donate the money to a charity which helps the bereaved of those who have died abroad.

Sara said that the parents of their two friends initially thought they were “mad” for wanting to do a skydive, but that they were “really supportive”.

Sara said that they wanted to raise money for Sepsis UK to help “anyone who is going through the same fight that Tim did”.

“At one point we thought he was going to survive and he didn’t.”

Sara hopes that with more funding a more research, that in the future people like Tim won’t have to lose their lives to sepsis. Two separate fundraising pages have been set up for the skydive on the website JustGiving. The one for Tim James can be found here, and the one for Charlie Birch can be found here.

Sara said: “By fundraising we’re keeping the memory of these people alive”