Age won't ground 80-year-old daredevil as wing walk approaches for Rotherham animal sanctuary

Time flies when you are 80-years-old.

And Sheila Norris is about to find out just how fast.

She will be strapping herself to the top of an old biplane and taking to the skies.

She is looking forward to the thrill of a once-in-a-lifetime wing walk hundreds of feet in the air.

And to cap it all, she will be raising much-needed money for Thornberry Animal Sanctuary in Aston.

Her daughter, Lynsey Colebrook, is community fundraising manager at the Rotherham centre, and is also due to take part in the wing walk along with retail manager Charlotte Ripley and former colleague Natalie Glossop-Knowles.

The aerial adventure will take place at Wickenby Airfield, Langworth, Lincoln, on August 23.

The participants will stand on the upper wing of a vintage biplane, secured in a specialist harness.

The plane is likely to be a restored 1942 Boeing Stearman biplane and will provide sweeping, if slightly hair-raising, views across the Lincolnshire countryside.

Sheila has just sneaked into the required age range of 18-80 — she turns 81 the day after the flight. Talk about taking it right down to the wire.

The mother-of-two and grandmother-of-two told the Advertiser her daughter didn't have to work hard to persuade her.

"I thought it would be rather fun" said the octogenarian, who lives in East Anglia.

"You always have to have something new to do and I am quite excited about it.

"I don't know if I will be nervous on the day, but I won't be pulling out and letting anybody down.

"I have abseiled down a hospital in Ipswich before, but this is taking things to another level."

She stressed: "Lynsey's animal sanctuary does a very important job and they need all the help they can get."

The retired school teacher, who spent 40 years in the classroom, admits some of her friends think she is crazy for taking part, although her husband, Mike, a retired accountant, will be at Wickenby Airfield cheering her and the others on.

She hopes they and others will contribute to her charity page, which can be found HERE.

The four women are aiming to raise at least £3,000 through the challenge.

With spirits already soaring, they hope donations will follow suit.

*It costs Thornberry more than £1 million a year to run the sanctuary and it receives no government funding.