The birthday of a mum who died from a brain tumour was marked by a mass skydive to raise funds to help find a cure for the disease.

Sue Blasotta, of Palmers Green, a passionate fundraiser, who undertook a skydive herself before she learnt she had brain cancer, died at the age of 42 just six weeks after being diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumour.

Determined to keep her memory alive, her father, nephew, a sister and a brother—in-law were among 51 friends and relatives taking part in an epic skydive on Sunday March 17 – one for each year she would have been celebrating.

Tottenham Independent:

Mum-of-two Mrs Blasotta was the eldest daughter of David Taylor of Winchmore Hill in North London, who set up the charity In Sue’s Name, a member charity of the Brain Tumour Research charity.

Before the skydive, In Sue’s Name had raised more than £190,000 since it launched a campaign in 2017 to raise £1 million to support vital research into brain tumours at Brain Tumour Research’s Centre of Excellence at Queen Mary University of London.

At 77, David was the oldest of the skydivers who went into freefall of 15 seconds, 13,000 feet over Hinton Aerodrome near Brackley in Northamptonshire before deploying his parachute.

David said: “It’s not a typical activity for a retiree. I was terrified! My daughter did a skydive five years before she died and she was equally terrified. But she still did it and said she would do it again.

“It has been my faith which has comforted me in the dark times and inspired me to continue Sue’s legacy and of course the wonderful support I have from St Monica’s.

“The important thing is to raise awareness and funds for research. Less than 20% of brain tumour patients survive beyond five years as compared with an average of 50% across all cancers. We have to do something to change this.”