Belleville man prepares to break his next world record in scuba diving

Jim Wigginton makes use of his love for adrenaline to interrupt world data world wide and raises cash for charities that assist thyroid most cancers sufferers and navy households.

For Jim Wigginton, a pension consists of exploring the world of depths of the ocean to the top of the environment of the earth. He has 9 world data in stair climbing, parachuting and diving and is now making ready to interrupt his subsequent world report on all seven continents.

Wigginton, 76, and his group, which may include two to 6 individuals, are planning to begin their journey on Antarctica in January. The tour is presently known as Triple 7 2.0, the journey continues, in reference to the report of Wigginton for parachuting on all seven continents, which was known as “Triple 7.”

For Wigginton, who lives in Van Buren Township, making ready for the diving consists of renewing his open dive PADI license via the Skilled Affiliation of Diving instructors and diving in Lake Huron and Lake Erie.

To organize for the ice-cold waters of Antarctica, Wigginton, a Grasp Scuba-Duiker, is planning to carry out some preparatory dives in Lake Huron on 60-90 ft, the place the water temperature is comparable with the aim of 25 ft in Antarctica.

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Wigginton believes that the report can final lower than six days and ensures rigorously probably the most environment friendly dive websites and route. He enjoys the focused nature of report -breaking and the competitors that’s accompanied by it.

“Actual competitors is if you beat everybody,” Wigginton mentioned concerning the data he has.

Wigginton has used his love for adrenaline to profit individuals in his neighborhood. In direction of the top of 2013, he had the Punya Thyroid Cancer Endowment FundIn honor of his deceased spouse, Nancy, to extend thyroid most cancers analysis and to increase the standard of lifetime of sufferers.

“It has elevated the life expectancy of thyroid most cancers sufferers by 5 occasions and a major enhance in high quality of life for greater than 5000 stage 4 thyroid most cancers sufferers,” mentioned Wigginton.

Nancy was identified with stage 4 thyroid most cancers in 2007 after discovering a lump in the back of her neck. She died in July 2013. Nancy and Jim had been married for 46 years and had three youngsters collectively.

Wigginton hopes to increase the lifetime of thyroid most cancers sufferers whereas sustaining a top quality of life and likewise to extend therapy choices via groundbreaking analysis within the therapy of thyroid most cancers.

Wigginton’s report -breaking was solely for thyroid most cancers till he began working Fols of Honor In 2022, a non -profit group helps that the spouses and kids of circumstances or wounded navy veterans assist via academic festivals.

Wigginton has devoted skydiving to navy veterans and his deceased buddy Thomas Noonan III, whom he met when he turned a member of the Skydiving Expedition of Noonan III 2016 on Mount Everest.

Wigginton and Noonan III participated in numerous skydives everywhere in the world till October 2021, when the couple tried to do a tandem skydive of 41,000 ft above Memphis. The foot of Noonan III obtained caught after they tried to leap out of the aircraft. Solely earlier the oxygen system didn’t perform from the aircraft and due to the nice peak everybody began to expertise hypoxia, which is brought on by low oxygen ranges within the physique tissues.

Wigginton and Noonan III misplaced consciousness resulting from hypoxia. Whereas Wigginton finally regained consciousness, Noonan III didn’t. Crew gave CPR to Noonan III till the aircraft landed, however he was later declared lifeless within the hospital.

Wigginton continued to unfold the mission of Honor for 3 years.

“Everybody may help a special individual,” he mentioned. “You simply must have the appropriate frame of mind when the time and place present themselves.” He has at all times been concerned with skydiving and diving, so to have the ability to use it for bettering humanity is what’s vital to him. Wigginton will signify each organizations throughout his journey.

Lara Terpstra, a just lately graduated from Malled Lake Northern Excessive Faculty and Rising Freshman on the College of Michigan, is a Detroit Free Press Summer season Apprentice from 2025.