A widow and her two children will jump out of a plane tomorrow in memory of Harlech man, Richard Moody.

Carol Moody, son Dwayne and daughter Jodie will take part in a skydive this Saturday to raise money for charity and awareness of the rare cancer which killed Richard in December 2018, aged 49.

Richard, who was originally from Harlech, was also well-known in Bala for his ground maintenance work. He had his own company, Richard Moody Garden Services.

Tragedy struck in 2018 after Richard complained of a sore throat.

“It wasn’t like Richard to say he didn’t feel well,” Carol, 57, recalled. “But he went to the doctor and basically never came home.”

Richard died on 4 December, just five weeks after seeing his GP.

“The doctor sent him to hospital immediately,” said Carol. “Three weeks into his hospital stay he was diagnosed with a very, very rare form of cancer, Rhabdomyosarcoma, but it was too late to treat him.”

Carol was told that there had only been two other cases in the UK recorded before, which meant they did not find out what Richard had in time to treat him.

Describing her husband, Carol said: “He ran his own business for 12 years and was a very fit, healthy young man of 49, cycling regularly 100 miles at weekends and loved life.

“We had such big plans for his 50th birthday but he passed away before then.

“I decided to do a skydive because it’s something I thought I could do. I’m not very fit - Richard was the fitness person in our family - so I can’t run a marathon, but I can do this, although it’s definitely out of my comfort zone.”

When Carol told her children Dwayne Owen, 38 and Jodie Moody, 27, they decided to join her.

“It’s a family affair!” said Carol.

The plucky trio have raised £3,853 for Sarcoma UK. “We hope to get to £4,000 via the JustGiving page,” Carol said.

The skydive had been due to take place on 2 May but was postponed because of coronavirus.

“That was the closest date to our 30th wedding anniversary,” said Carol. “I wanted to do something special as we had planned to renew our wedding vows, so the most fitting thing I could think of doing, especially as he was the adventurous one of the family was to do a charity skydive.”

The money raised will help anyone in the future affected by sarcoma to get the support they need.

“You will also be funding ground-breaking research projects which are looking for better and quicker treatments for sarcoma patients,” Carol said.

To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising­/­carol-moody1