'They didn’t even try to speak to him' - Teen with Down's syndrome refused skydive

A teenager was told minutes before a planned charity skydive in Salisbury that “we can’t allow someone with Down’s syndrome to skydive”.

Lloyd Martin, from Camberley, raised money for his gymnastics club’s new premises by organising a charity skydive at GoSkydive, Salisbury.

Prior to the big day, the 19-year-old and his mum, Ceri Hooper, were told by the skydiving company that subject to a doctor’s note, he would be fine to jump.

However, Lloyd was told just minutes before he was due to fly up in the plane that he would not be allowed to jump.

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Ceri, 54, said: “We were waiting to be called to go up, and the instructor came over and said we can’t allow someone with Down’s syndrome to skydive, do you have the doctor’s letter? And we provided him with it.

“They took it away and came back and said he’s not jumping today. We said, what do you mean, you said it was fine as long as the doctors said it was fine?

“They just weren’t budging with no real explanation other than that he had Down’s syndrome.”

Lloyd at the London Marathon 2024 (Image: Ceri Hooper)

Earlier this year, Lloyd was awarded with a Guinness World Record for being the youngest person with his disability to complete a marathon.

Ceri added: “Particularly while he was growing up, we just constantly had those barriers. But in recent years, it has been much better - you feel like you’re getting somewhere. But to be told yes and then have the door shut in your face – it’s really just disappointing.

“The rest of the team felt they could not go on and leave him behind, so he felt he was at fault and responsible for them not being able to jump. He’s just determined to do it.”

Lloyd raised money to go towards his gymnastics club's new premises (Image: Ceri Hooper)

Managing director at GoSkydive Gordon Blamire said: “While we understand the frustrations of Lloyds’s family, our commitment is to Lloyd’s wellbeing. Lloyd’s family know him well, but we do not. We want the opportunity to get to know Lloyd, his conditions and what he needs from us before we can take him skydiving.

“There is no doubt that we could have better communicated the requirement for Lloyd to be assessed prior to his jump at GoSkydive, for this we are extremely apologetic. We continue to learn and improve our interactions and this instance drives direct change in our policies.

“Although commercially available, skydiving remains an extreme activity. At GoSkydive, we pride ourselves on our exceptional safety record and continue to invest heavily in looking after our customers at a level that significantly exceeds industry standards. This sometimes means making tough decisions on the suitability of our customers to make a tandem skydive.

“However, I am passionate about sharing my love of skydiving, this is particularly true for people with challenges in their life.”