Woman who died in parachuting accident named as Pamela Gower

A woman who died in a parachuting accident on Saturday lived life to the full and died doing what she loved, her cousin has said.

Pamela Gower, who was from Hebburn in South Tyneside, described herself as a “crazy trainee skydiver” and had posted various pictures of herself taking part in the extreme sport on Facebook.
“She certainly lived life to the full, that’s for sure,” her cousin, Anthony Cairns, wrote on the site. He added that he felt great sadness at the death of his “lovely cousin”.

He said: “Just makes you aware that you have to make the most of life as you have no idea when it is likely to be taken away from you. She was doing exactly that I guess, doing what she loved.
“RIP Pamela Gower, we will all always love you so much.”

In her profile picture on the site, Gower is seen grinning and dressed in parachuting gear with the caption: “Nothing makes me more happy than skydiving, can’t wait for the next jump.”
The 49-year-old had previously trained and jumped with the Skydive Academy, which also organised this weekend’s excursion, to raise money for charity. According to her Just Giving page, she managed to raise nearly £1,000 for Cancer Research by jumping from 15,000ft.
Gower worked as an employment adviser for Remploy, an organisation that provides employment placements for disabled people.

She died after her parachute failed to open during a jump on Saturday. She was rushed to hospital by air ambulance after landing in a housing estate in County Durham on Saturday afternoon, and taken into intensive care, but later died.

The coroner has been informed and a postmortem will be carried out. Durham police said the death would be investigated by authorities, including the British Parachute Association.
A Remploy spokesman said: “We are shocked and deeply saddened to hear of Pam’s tragic accident. Pam worked most recently as an employment adviser in our Newcastle branch, supporting disabled people into work.

“She had worked for the company for many years and was a valued and respected member of the Remploy team. Our thoughts are with her family, friends and work colleagues past and present. We will be offering whatever support is required at this very difficult time.”

Guardian