A brave young man from Teignmouth has raised over £1,000 for charity after jumping out of ‘a perfectly good plane’ in memory of his grandad.

Dom Slader, a sixth-form student at Teignmouth Community School, decided to take on the challenge after his 70-year-old granddad passed away in December due to complications related to his Type 2 diabetes.

‘My grandfather was a true legend to me and a rock in a very unstable world, so I decided to honour him and jump out of a plane,’ he said.

The skydive, which took place at Dunkeswell Airfield on Saturday May 3, saw Dom leap out of a plane at 15,000 feet and freefall for around 60 seconds, reaching a speed of nearly 140mph, before parachuting the rest of the way down to the ground.

Dom Slader's skydive raised over £1000 for Diabetes UK
Dom Slader's skydive raised over £1000 for Diabetes UK (Contributed)

Dom, who celebrated his 18th birthday just days after his grandfather died, described the sky dive as an amazing experience that was ‘actually really good fun’.

The courageous feat has generated £1,369 in sponsorship for Diabetes UK, a charity that campaigns for better care and support for people with diabetes and funds research into the condition.

To contribute to Dom’s fundraiser visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/dom-skydive2025

‘The more money we can raise, the more Diabetes UK can help people like my grandad to manage their condition and live full, well and happy lives,’ Dom commented.

. Every 2 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with diabetes and around 4.6million people live with the condition. Around 10% have Type 1 diabetes and 90% have Type 2 diabetes. More than 500 people with diabetes die prematurely every week.