Athlone man 'still buzzing' after charity skydive

Athlone man Stephen Byrne, who suffered a brain injury while at work eight years ago, has completed a memorable skydive which helped raise over €1,000 for the Acquired Brain Injury Ireland charity.

"It was an unbelievable feeling. I'm still buzzing after it," said Stephen on Monday, two days after he undertook the 13,000-foot jump from a plane which had taken off from Clonbullogue airfield, near Edenderry.

The skydive was initially due to take place in July, but was postponed to last weekend due to unfavourable weather conditions on the original date.

Stephen, a former member of the Defence Forces, suffered his brain injury during a fall which occurred at Portlaoise prison in March of 2014.

The incident has continued to seriously impact on his life and career since, and he was discharged from the Army on medical grounds at the end of May.

Earlier this year, he made the decision to take part in the charity skydive, after being given clearance to fly again from his neurologist.

"It's something I always wanted to do," said the resident of Grotto View, Battery Heights.

He completed the jump with seven other supporters of Acquired Brain Injury Ireland - though Stephen was the only person taking part who had personally suffered a brain injury.

When contacted by the Westmeath Independent he described it as a "once in a lifetime" undertaking, and one he greatly enjoyed.

The tandem parachute jump saw himself and his colleague stepping out onto the wing of the plane before jumping, and then completing some rotations on the way down.

A 'Go Pro' video of the jump was taken, to capture it for posterity, while Stephen's return to solid ground was greeted by, among others, his nine-year-old daughter Molly.

At the time of writing, Stephen's online fundraising page for Acquired Brain Injury Ireland had raised €1,170 from more than 50 individual donations.