"January 2017 was my first trip skiing with Kristy and The Jumbulance Trust. She always told me how much she loved these trips and I was honoured that she asked if I could go with her that year. Having known Kristy for 30 odd years you can imagine the grief she gave me as I spent day two of that first trip at the bottom of the slope watching in tears as my friend sailed down those mountains. Those tears were not because she was doing something she normally wouldn’t but because of the absolute sheer pride, happiness and fun I could see emanating from her smiles, hear from her cackling laugh and tell from the excitable Kristy style babbling to all the volunteers and instructors skiing with her. I knew in that moment why it meant so much to her.
For the second year there was the skiing of course, but one of the other important experiences for Kristy was that with the help of all the other volunteers we wheeled her through the thick snow up the road to a local nightclub. I’d found out that she’d never been to one before as she didn’t feel safe, but with the Jumbulance crew supporting her I persuaded her to give it a shot (you didn’t hear that Suzie and Richard). We played pool there, also a new experience, she wasn’t happy that I didn’t let her win (she should have known better after all these years of friendship). Her purple wheel lights were as bright as her smile lighting up the snow at 1am as she ventured back to the hotel."
"To 2019, our third year getting on that bus seeing all the familiar and some new excited faces smiling back (even though we were all secretly dreading the 17hr journey) 2019 saw Kristy achieve her nemesis Red 23-24 from top to bottom. She was over the moon and swelling with pride, especially as the day before she took a tumble coming down the slope, but all the team and the instructors rallied round to boost her confidence and determination helping her to conquer it that following day.
These trips were not just about a week skiing for Kristy, but about building friendships, trust, having new experiences and being part of the truly incredible Jumbulance family that’s created every year from a week in the mountains of Austria. A crazy family that is devastated to now be missing a member, but will continue to welcome more amazing people into its fold and will tell them all about our incredible purple princess and how she kicked ass on the slopes and in life, taking the ‘dis’ out of disability.
2020 was to be our fourth year in beautiful Austria, devastatingly that is not to be for us. But Kristy would love to know that she could help more people go on these trips be it VIPs or volunteers and that they could experience all the things she did.
You can make that come true for Kristy, thank you."
- Amy Cleaver (Kristy's Friend)