Jean Parris, a resident at High Wycombe nursing home, The Heights, saw her dream become a reality when her pilot son took off in his own two-seater aircraft from Booker Airpark to complete a special sponsored flight over the nursing home.
Jean, aged 87, has held a life-long ambition to watch her son fly a plane, and thought this would never come to fruition when she moved to The Heights earlier this year, in order to benefit from The Fremantle Trust’s specialist care.
Jean’s son, Richard, is a commercial pilot for Easyjet, though two years ago he built his own plane – a Vans RV-7 single engine, low wing aircraft from scratch, and realised he could fulfil his mum’s dream by working with the team at the nursing home to create a day to remember.
Activity coordinator at The Heights, Elizabeth Britnell, accompanied Jean to the airpark on Saturday 10th October. From there, Jean was able to watch her son descend on to the runway in preparation for the once-in-a-lifetime flight over The Heights with Elizabeth, where residents and staff were gathered in anticipation.
Despite the low cloud, Richard’s skill as a pilot enabled residents to witness the spectacular fly-over and 40 minutes later he returned to the airpark to be reunited with his mum, who was patiently awaiting his return.
Commenting on the event, Jean said:
It was a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to see my son fly a plane and I’m so thrilled that he and the team here have made that possible. It really was a day to treasure – I couldn’t have been more proud!
Blesson Thomas, manager of The Heights added:
It was a real privilege to be able to fulfil Jean’s life-long dream. It’s fair to say we all thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle and it certainly put a smile on Jean’s face!