Penwortham Golf Club lady captain takes on skydive charity challenge to raise awareness of migraines which have had huge impact on her life

Penwortham Golf Club’s Lady Captain, Donna Brookes, has already helped to raise thousands of pounds for The Migraine Trust: And now she’s planning a skydive in aid of the charity.

Donna has adopted the UK’s leading migraine charity as her charity of the year for 2022.

She lives with chronic migraine which brings a headache at least 15 days each month, with eight of these having migraine symptoms.

Symptoms include headache, nausea, visual disturbances and dizziness.Donna said: “The charity has been a great source of support to me and I want to give back.

“In addition to raising money to help people living with migraine, I also hope to spread awareness and understanding of migraine, as it’s so much more than the headache people think it is.“The condition has had a huge impact on my life – I lost my career with the Civil Service after 25 years as a result of my condition.

"I know it might sound dramatic, but there have been many times when my migraine has been at its worst and I’ve begged for it to be a brain haemorrhage and just be done with it.”

Donna, who will also be doing a charity skydive on July 28, said: “Nowadays my migraine is much more manageable, but I still get about 12 migraine attacks a month.

"I have had to force myself to slow down, working part-time helps and I now feel that migraine is part of me, but doesn’t define me anymore.”

As part of Penwortham Golf Club’s Charity Day in May, £7,000 was raised for The Migraine Trust.

The club’s Mr Captain Ray Lewis chose Galloway’s Society for the Blind as his charity. Rob Music, chief executive of The Migraine Trust, said of Donna: “She is an inspiration and as she herself knows, migraine is debilitating and painful and affects many aspects of a person’s life.”

To sponsor Donna and her skydive, follow the links to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/pgc-lc-donnabrookes

If you would like information about migraine and how The Migraine Trust can help you manage it, go to migrainetrust.org.