Abseil and marriage proposal as event helps to raise £2,000 for the MyWiSH charity at West Suffolk Hospital

A proposal of marriage and thousands of pounds raised for charity was the result of an abseil by a group of people at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, in London.

A total of 29 individuals gingerly made their way down the 262ft tall ArcelorMittall Orbit in aid of the MyWish charity, which supports the West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds.

There was a team from Ward F7, who were raising money for an EGC machine; Cerne Deverall, the hospital’s gardener, who fundraised for the speech and language department; three people from Meredith Greengrass Funeral Directors; Jess Daniels and her boyfriend Sam Bassett, who raised money for the Macmillan Unit; four men from Thetford 93 who have been constant supporters of My WiSH; Steve Smith and his son Morgan, husband and son of Sue Smith, the charity’s fundraising manager; James Sheen from We Love Bury St Edmunds; and 23-year-old Jordan Mitchell who romantically asked his girlfriend Melissa Spencer, 25, to marry him just before he carried out his abseil.

And the group’s daring exploits managed to raise £2,000.

Jordan, pictured above with Melissa, said his proposal came just four years after their first date at the Olympic Park and it was an appropriate venue.

The couple, who both work at RAF Mildenhall and who live in Downham Market, are now planning to wed in June 2019.

They first met via a Twitter message Jordan made during a match at Portman Road between Ipswich Town and Bristol City.

He said: “Melissa is a Bristol fan and I support Ipswich and I’d mentioned that our former player John Stead who was with Bristol wouldn’t score … but he did near the end of the game.

“That prompted a response from Melissa, who was living in Watford, and we met up from there.

“I lost my father about a year ago and he was treated at the West Suffolk Hospital and it was my way of trying to give something back to the hospital.”

Sue Smith added: “It was a fantastic day. The sky was blue which made for some fantastic photos as they abseiled down.

“It was amazing to see the camaraderie amongst everyone, they all cheered each other on and encouraged two fundraisers who were more than a little nervous about the challenge.”