Memorial parachutist calls it a day after honouring SAS legend in final jump
AN Old Elizabethan who has spent the last four years taking part in commemorative military parachute jumps and raising money for veterans has finally retired his wings.
Jon Bridel has raised more than £14,000 for various para and SAS veteran charities during that time.
Having completed jumps in iconic locations across France and Holland, his most recent jump was commemorating an SAS legend, Captain Mike Sadler.
Despite not being a veteran himself, after all of the support he has given to the military, Mr Bridel is now an honorary member of the Parachute Regimental Association and is also a fully-trained military parachutist.
He started taking part in the jumps because of word of mouth. He heard about the idea through some of his friends in the military, and although he had never done a parachute jump before, decided he wanted to get involved.
'You cannot imagine some of the people you meet doing these jumps,' he said.
'There are veterans from Afghanistan and the Falklands, former SAS servicemen and paras, and I have had the honour of jumping with them.'
The jumps are not much like a modern-day parachute jump.
They are done with full Second World War equipment, and the iconic circular parachutes from the 1940s.
Mr Bridel is still raising money for SAS and para veterans. To donate, visit http://bit.ly/2vjlfRB. He is about £500 short of his target.
