A 70-YEAR-old woman received more than £2,000 in donations after braving a wing walk challenge alone in aid of a St Asaph charity.

Gaby Barnes, who is originally from Bremen, Germany but has lived in Bodfari, Denbighshire for 36 years, faced the wing walk to support St Kentigern Hospice, which provides care and support for patients with a life-limiting condition and their families.

Taking place at an airfield by RAF Church Fenton in Yorkshire on Sunday, October 10, Gaby stood on a wing of a 1940s Boeing Stearman biplane, before being strapped into a seat on an upright stand on the exterior of the plane while the pilot carried out a number of dizzying manoeuvres.

Gaby took on a parachute jump for St Kentigern in 2007, but found the wing walk, which lasted about 15 minutes, even more exhilarating.

Rhyl Journal: Gaby strapped into the seat on the biplaneGaby strapped into the seat on the biplane

She said: “You do it for longer, so it’s quite an adrenaline rush, especially when you’re going straight down, looking at the ground, falling forwards almost, and then it pulls up and you go straight up into the air so you’re literally lying down (on the outside of the plane); it was quite something.

“It was absolutely brilliant, and we had absolutely gorgeous sunshine. Because I hadn’t done a wing walk before, we didn’t do a full ‘loop-the-loop’, but we did something similar. They asked what am I up for doing and I said: ‘Well, anything we can do – just make it exciting!’

“We did quite a lot of helter-skelters; it was quite wild and very exciting, and I really enjoyed it. My family were there with me, so it was lovely.”

Gaby’s online JustGiving page (www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gaby-barneswingwalk) currently stands just shy of the £2,000 mark, but she said with the extra donations she has received in person, she will break that barrier, having initially set herself a target of £1,000.

She added how heartening it has been to see such generosity from people, especially those who also recognise the value of St Kentigern’s work.

Gaby said: “It’s going to be well over £2,000. I’ve got some cash that people have donated, and my husband’s going to get some more from friends, so there’s going to be quite a bit more added to the final amount yet.

“People have been very kind. Some have come up to me and said: ‘My brother or sister died at St Kentigern and they looked after them, please can I donate?’, so it has been really nice to see people’s generosity.”