Friends make leap in memory of Kevin

Hamish Hutchinson • Published 19 May 2010 10:54 0 Comments

THE family and friends of an Alloa soldier, who was tragically killed whilst serving in Afghanistan, took to the skies to raise thousands of pounds for Help for Heroes.

Para Kevin Mulligan, was killed last year in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan along with two other soldiers when the Jackal vehicle they were travelling in was hit by an explosion which was followed by a small arms fire attack.

Since his tragic death the 26-year-old's family and friends have held a number of fundraising events including a charity football tournament and a gig in Alloa Town Hall.

However, his cousin Suzanne Hall decided to go a step further and do a skydive in memory of Kevin who did many parachute jumps with the 'Red Devils' display team.

She then persuaded Paul Kelly - the brother of Kevin's fiancee Leanne - and Kevin's friends Neill Brown, Graeme Sharp and Natalie Rennie to take to the skies at Strathallan.

So far the jump has raised over £3000 but with money still to come in from the other four who took part in the skydive Kevin's family are hoping to reach the £5000 mark for the charity, which helps rehabilitate service men and women injured in the line of duty.

Suzanne told the Advertiser, "Kevin always told me that skydiving was fantastic and urged me to try it sometime. Therefore I thought that doing a sponsored skydive would be a good way of raising money for 'Help for Heroes' in Kevin's memory.

"After talking to a friend of his from the Paras who is now part of the 'Red Devils' display team, I decided to arrange a jump with them. Others were eager to participate, and five of us took part. We all felt that this was a great tribute to Kevin."

Kevin's finacee Leanne Kelly also went to Strathallan with their six-month-old daughter Neve, who sadly never met her father, but decided to keep her feet firmly on the ground along with other family members.

Anne Hall, Kevin's aunt, said, "It was a lovely day and all of Kevin's family and his friends were there. We had t-shirts printed with a picture of Kevin doing a skydive and I think he would have been extremely proud of everyone that did the skydive.

"Suzanne and the others said it was awesome and loved the experience - so much so that they said they wanted to go right back up and do it again. My heart was in my mouth just watching them coming down through the clouds with the binoculars."

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