"Mad nanna" Janet takes to the skies to support macular research

An 80-year-old grandmother is back on solid ground after completing a daring wing walk challenge.

Janet braved balancing on top of a plane as she took to the Yorkshire skies in September, all while raising £820 for the Macular Society to fund research to find a cure.

Having been diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) nine years ago, Janet's sight loss has been gradual and she now receives injections to treat wet AMD.

Impact of AMD on Janet

Janet said: "I use glasses for long vision but the deterioration in my sight has been gradual over time. It’s definitely worsening for reading, particularly reading up close and I decided to stop driving two years ago. It’s horrible and I have to rely on my partner or public transport but we do still get out and about.

"I know one day I will be at the point of being sight impaired, but not just yet. I'm just going to go with the flow because what more can I do?

"I have tools to help me read, I have the injections and I'm happy how I am."

She is grateful for the injections to help stop the leaking blood vessels in the back of her eye, which gives her encourgament for the future.

Janet said: "I'm very optimistic by the fact that we have these eye injections.

"They've not been around longer than about 20 years, so if I'd developed this a few years earlier I might have lost more of my sight by now.

"These injections keep sight loss at bay and for that I'm very pleased to have them and I think eventually we'll find a cure."

Mad Nanna completes her wing walk challenge

Janet, nicknamed "Mad Nanna" by her grandchildren, has explored the world from South-East Asia, to South America, China and Australia, to name but a few regions.

"In our 60s and into our late 70s we classed ourselves as the ‘wrinkliest backpackers in town!," she joked.

So when it came to standing on the outside of a plane, it was something which was never going to phase her.

Janet said: "I wasn't at all worried, I was so excited actually. Everyone else was petrified for me!

“Getting £820 was something I never imagined. I’ve thanked so many people and they’re just as overjoyed, even they think I’m mad, and I’m definitely up for doing something next year as well.”