World-first challenge will see Tom run marathon ... and skydive 13 times

A FRIEND of a Nottingham Trent University student who died of cancer at just 20 is taking on a world-first challenge in his memory - including jumping out of a plane 13 times in a single day.

- By RUCSANDRA MOLDOVEANU

Tom Flavin, 29, will perform the impressive feat to raise money for BacZac, a charity launched in memory of Zac Forskitt.

Zac was a journalism student at Nottingham Trent University when he died in March 2016, after being diagnosed with a germ cell tumour in his chest, as well as an aggressive form of leukaemia. BacZac was created by his dad Jason to support other young adults battling cancer.

Tom, who went to school with Zac and played on the university's cricket team with him, aims to raise £10,000 for the charity through his incredible challenge, which will see him run a full marathon before taking to the skies.

He said: “I used to run ultramarathons years ago and then I got into skydiving about five years ago, having completed almost 400 skydives, so I thought I'd merge the two together for this challenge.

“It will be one marathon of running and one marathon of free-fall, a total of 52.4 miles, half horizontally and half vertically. I do feel nervous because I don’t think it’s going to go well on the first attempt.