Preston schoolgirl Kenzie Fitzer’s determination to support a charity close to heart took her to heights she had only ever dreamed of but proved nothing in life is out of her reach!”
Kenzie was born with an extra chromosome to make her a person with Downs Syndrome. At the age of 11 and watching an old war film with her stepdad Mike, Kenzie decided she wanted to parachute from an aeroplane just like the soldiers on the TV screen.
Now, having had to wait four years to reach the age of 16 – the youngest permitted age in the UK to undertake a tandem skydive – Kenzie has realised her ambition and in leaping from 10,000ft in the air, raised £1,627 for Baby Beat, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s mums and babies charity.
Kenzie, a pupil at Lostock Hall’s Applebee Wood School, had to get special medical clearance to skydive, which was her dad Jeff’s birthday gift to her. She said: “It was brilliant. It was just how I imagined it to be and I’d love to do it again.
“I am very grateful to everyone who sponsored me. I wanted to support Baby Beat because I had to spend some time in the special care baby unit at the Royal Preston Hospital when I was born. My nephew Benji, who was born last August at 33 weeks to my brother Nathan and his partner Charlotte also had to receive special care.”
Kenzie, who is a cast member of Kirkham’s Melting Pot Theatre Workshop, added: “Because I am genetically blessed, my mum was told about all the things I may not be able to do as I grew up from walking and talking to bigger things. She told my wonderful consultant ‘I beg to differ’ and I have done everything I can in my life to agree with her point!” Baby Beat is part of the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Charity family. It funds specialist equipment, patient services and comforts, clinical care, local research and training so that our maternity and gynaecology teams can offer the best possible outcomes for babies and mums in the Central Lancashire and Chorley area. With the charity’s support, our neonatal unit continues to provide exceptional care for premature and sick babies and their families from across Lancashire and South Cumbria.
