Murder victim's sister in charity skydive to raise awareness over knife crime

Martyne Johnson, a portering supervisor at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, is organising the charity skydive on the 11th anniversary of her brother Tom Kirwan's death and to mark her 40th birthday.

Tom, 23, who worked at Bridgnorth Aluminium, was fatally stabbed outside the former Uberra nightclub in Wolverhampton City Centre, in July 2012. No one has been convicted over the murder despite a £30,000 reward being offered last March,

Mother of two Martyne, aged 39, from Fallings Park, Wolverhampton, said: "Tom lived life to the full so I thought of how I could do something in his memory while still celebrating my birthday and I came up with the idea of skydive.

"It's completely out of my comfort zone and I don't like heights so it's a real challenge, but it's on my bucket list, I'm raising money for a brilliant cause and it's in honour of Tom."

Martyne will take to the skies this Saturday to raise money to buy 40 life-saving bleed kits to be used across the Wolverhampton area.

The kits, which contain gauze to pack wounds and a seal to stop air from getting into the body, can be used to stop bleeding from incidents such as stab wounds, road traffic incidents and trauma bleeds until first responders arrive.

Martyne added: "It's been 11 years since Tom was killed so something needs to be done. If we can't stop people carrying knives then let's do something positive in his name that could save people's lives.

"I've got children growing up in this area, and nieces and nephews and I want to make it a safer place for them."

Currently, there are six bleed kits in the Wolverhampton area, with Martyne hoping to raise enough money to buy 40 more of the first aid kits to install around the area.

So far her fundraiser has raised more than £6,500, smashing the initial goal of £3,400, but the NHS worker hopes to raise more money to fund more bleed kits across the region.

Martyne added: "With the cost of living crisis, I'm surprised we've raised so much money already and hit the target, but if we could keep adding to the amount that would be great.

"For those who have donated the amount for a kit of £100 or more, I've asked them where they'd like a kit to be put."

Joining the daredevil on the skydive will be her brothers, Danny Kirwan and Keith Edwards, and cousins, Lydia Kirwan and Jim Illidge, who have all also contributed to the donations.

Anyone looking to donate to Martyne's cause can find more information on her Gofundme page gofund.me/41f90a2a