A WHEELCHAIR-BOUND grandmother has taken up paragliding at the age of 85.

Disability campaigner Gwynneth Pedler, from Cumnor Hill, fulfilled her ambition at the fourth attempt, with four assistants holding her aloft as the wind lifted her and an instructor from a spot near Lewes, in East Sussex.

Now she has pledged to take on more daredevil sports to prove disability need not be a barrier to taking part.

The retired St Andrew’s Primary School teacher, who suffers from severe rheumatoid arthritis, vowed to take up the sport after hitting national headlines by appearing on the ‘fourth plinth’ in Trafalgar Square last year as part of a 100-day art project.

She said: “After I sat on the plinth, somebody asked me what new thing I was going to do next year.

“I said I was going to go paragliding, even though I knew nothing about it.

“It just slipped into my mind and came out of my mouth. I could not let them call my bluff, so I had to do it.”

Three previous attempts to arrange lift-off failed because the wind was not strong enough.

Mrs Pedler, who campaigns with Oxfordshire Unlimited, said: “The problem I faced was that because I cannot use my legs very well. I could not do the little bit of running you have to do to take off.

“I had my harness on, and four men, one on each leg and each shoulder. They ran with me for take-off.

“It was a very interesting experience, and a very gentle and peaceful flight.”

She added: “I want to encourage disabled people to see that even if they do not want to do silly things like paragliding, there is plenty to do out there.

“Your disability is not a barrier to everything.

“Even the thought of getting on buses or trains and going around the country opens up the world to people.

“I want to encourage people to be more empowered.”

Mrs Pedler said she was trying to decide which extreme sport to take up next.

She said: “I did toy with the idea of doing white-water rafting next, before I actually saw it and thought even my own able-bodied daughter would not do that.

“Abseiling I’m not sure about, as I do not know how strong my legs would have to be.

“Somebody suggested wing-walking, and I would not mind giving that a go.”