An 84-year-old daredevil will take on his first ever skydive to raise money for the hospice that cared for his wife.

Tony Lane lost his beloved Patricia on March 29, 2017 - their 59th wedding anniversary – following a lengthy battle with lung cancer.

After witnessing her struggle with the disease and the support provided by staff at the Pilgrim's Hospice in Canterbury, Tony decided to try to raise £5,000 for the charity.

“I want to get as much as we can for the hospice,” he said.

“They took such great care of Pat; they were real angels.

“I haven’t done anything like this before but I’m not nervous because I’m doing this for my wife and she’s given me the strength to do it.”

Patricia, 82, spent four weeks in the hospice and was in and out of hospital for several years beforehand.

She and Tony lived together in Herne Bay for 33 years after regularly holidaying to Reculver.

“Whenever we visited my wife would say ‘Tony, can we live down here?’” Mr Lane said.

"I'm not nervous because I'm doing this for my wife and she's given me the strength to do it" - Tony Lane

“One day I thought I’d surprise her, stopped at an estate agent and we fell in love with a bungalow in Studd Hill.

“We moved down here from London in six weeks.”

Tony established his business, Grove Re-Upholstery in New Street, soon afterwards.

He ran it for 32 years and as a result became a well-known figure in the Bay with a large client list including Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Tony will be skydiving in Headcorn on Thursday, March 29, which would have been his and Patricia’s 60th anniversary.

It will also be nine weeks before his 85th birthday on June 3.

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