York mum who has survived multiple strokes to skydive for friend with cancer

A YORK mum who has survived multiple strokes and major brain surgery is planning a charity skydive in honour of a friend who is dying from cancer.

Sarah Moore, 40, from Layerthorpe, admitted she was ‘petrified’ at the thought of doing the jump.

But with her friend Suzie ‘Sooz’ Garner receiving end of life care she decided now was the time to do something.

“I’ve never done anything like this in my life before, but I thought if I’m going to do something, now is the time,” she said.

Sarah Moore, who has survived multiple strokes and brain surgery, will be doing a charity skydive in support of Macmillan in honour of her friend Suzie Garner, who has terminal cancer (Image: Supplied)

Sarah’s friend Suzie was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer which had spread to her lymph nodes two years ago.

In July 2022, after learning of her diagnosis, she appealed through The Press for other women to make sure they got their smear tests done.

“Please don’t make the same mistake I did, I’m begging you,” she said. “Please listen to me and go get your checks done.”

Sarah said it was typical of her friend that she would be thinking of others at such a time.

She said: “She’s such a loving, caring, thoughtful person. She’s always thinking of others, 100 per cent.”

'Loving, caring and thoughtful' - Sarah Moore's friend Suzie Garner, who is receiving end-of-life cancer care in York (Image: Supplied)

Now Sarah says that, despite her own health problems, she wants to raise as much money for Macmillan Cancer Support as she can in Suzie’s honour.

Sarah herself has suffered multiple strokes – the first when she was just 31.

In 2020, following a ‘catastrophic’ stroke in which she lost much of her eyesight, she was eventually diagnosed with Moyamoya, a rare, progressive cerebrovascular disorder caused by blocked arteries at the base of the brain.

READ MORE:

- 'You can still get checked - it's too late for me' - Suzie says get a smear test

- Woman with advanced cancer begs other women not to make same mistake

She had brain surgery at the LGI in Leeds to ‘bypass’ the blocked arteries by attaching her temporal artery to the surface of her brain and transplanting muscle tissue to encourage new blood vessels to grow.

Since the surgery, Sarah - a single mum of a grown-up 18-year-old, who works as an administrator at a driving instructor - says she hasn’t suffered any further strokes.

So she now feels ready to take that skydive.

She’ll be joining other charity fundraisers at the Macmillan ‘Jump of their Lives’ charity skydive organised by York Racecourse at Bridlington Airfield in East Yorkshire on June 1.

Sarah Moore will be taking part in a charity skydive on June 1 in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support (Image: Stock)

It will be a tandem skydive, in which she’ll be accompanied by an experienced jumper.

So she won’t be doing any training beforehand.

“You just rock up on the day!” she said.

Sarah has set up a JustGiving page, with a target of raising £1,800 for Macmillan – and has already raised almost £600.

She said she’ll be doing the jump ‘for me, for Sooz, for the people kicking cancer’s butt, the stroke survivors, the moyamoya warriors and all the people fighting for diagnosis - and to show that although not all battles can be won, they can be fought!’.

Sarah said she’s known Suzie for years, since they met while working together at Minster Law in York in 2007.

So what does her friend think of her skydive?

“She thinks it’s amazing,” Sarah said. “She also thinks I’m a bit mad!”

You can support Sarah’s charity skydive in aid of Macmillan by visiting her JustGiving page at https://shorturl.at/loH78

Sarah is also urging women to get their regular smear checks done – Suzie would want that, she says.