Charity skydive for son was ‘amazing’, says Hampshire mum

A mum has said she was “absolutely petrified” during a skydive in memory of her son who died after suffering an asthma attack.

Belinda Dowling, from Portsmouth, was raising money for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance which tried to help save Warren, 10, in 2023.

She completed the skydive on Sunday alongside her 16-year-old daughter, her partner Ian Dowling, one of Warren’s old teachers and two people from the air ambulance service.

Ms Dowling, who has already seen the £1,200 fundraising target reached, said afterwards: “I did it and was glad when my feet got back to the ground.”

Following the skydive, Ms Dowling said her daughter Scarlett “absolutely loved it and wants to do it again”.

It was an “amazing experience for a well-deserved charity”, she said, adding she “just kept thinking of Warren’s smile”.

Speaking ahead of the charity event, Ms Dowling described her son as “the most kind-hearted, loving boy”.

“He was so outgoing, he just absolutely loved life,” she said.

He had been playing outside with his siblings after dinner in March 2023 when he came inside and asked for his inhalers.

But they did not work, so Ms Dowling called an ambulance.

“He started saying ‘don’t let me die’,” she said.

While his mum was on the phone to the emergency services, Warren had a seizure and stopped breathing.

His dad performed CPR until the ambulance arrived but paramedics were unable to save him.

Mr Dowling took on a Father’s Day skydive a year after Warren’s death, which prompted his partner to do the same.

“I kept saying I wouldn’t do it. I’m petrified of heights, I’ve never flown,” said Ms Dowling before Sunday’s skydive.

“[But] I wanted to do something for Warren and the air ambulance so this made perfect sense.”