A BEAUTICIAN conquered her fears of heights and flying to take part in a parachute jump to raise money for a cancer charity.

Stephanie Roberts, who grew up in Royston and now lives in Haslingfield, took the plunge from 13,200 feet earlier this month to raise cash for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

The 24-year-old, who is manager of the Your Beauty salon in Bar Hill, said: “The one thing I kept thinking was the reason I was doing it; those that are going, gone or lost a loved one to breast cancer. It’s a horrible thing to have someone close to you go through it.

“Two of my close friends’ mums have had masectomies and gone through chemotherapy, a family friend had it and another friend is currently going through another form of cancer, so it was important to me to raise money for Breakthrough.”

Miss Roberts, who took her tandem jump at an airfield near Peterborough described the moment she jumped out of the plane as petrifying.

She said: “I don’t like flying or heights. I generally don’t go abroad on holiday, and if I do I have to put the flying right to the back of my mind.

“When I got up there I was petrified, even though I was attached to someone I felt like I was on my own. But then I remembered what I was doing it for, and there was no point being scared.

“Once we finished free falling the parachute opened and I managed to open my eyes to glance at the view. The silence of it all was unforgettable and nothing I could describe could match it.”

As well as the jump, Miss Roberts has undertaken several fundraising activities at her work, and has so far raised over �600 for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

To sponsor her, visit www.justgiving.com/stephanie- roberts-bsc-hons1.