A MULTIPLE sclerosis sufferer with a head for heights is to do a charity skydive from 12,000ft.

Helen English has suffered from the illness for more than 20 years and wants to raise funds to help other sufferers.

Based at Wath, near Ripon, in North Yorkshire, she was first affected by the illness in the early 1980s, as she trained to be a nurse.

Based in London at the time, Miss English, 45, lost the use of her legs due to the illness. She made a partial recovery but was unable to continue nursing and so headed back to North Yorkshire.

She said: "Nursing was my life and when I got the illness I felt like the whole world had slipped from under me.

"Somehow I picked myself up and decided I had to get on with life, as there was nothing I could do about it."

Now she has decided to do a tandem skydive from 12,000ft over Shotton Airfield, near Peterlee, east Durham, on June 12, to help with the running costs of the Cleveland MS Therapy Centre, in Middlesbrough.

Miss English added: "I am excited and nervous about it but I'm determined to do it, and I really want to raise about £1,000.

"The worst part will be stepping out of the aircraft but I will just have to let myself go."

To donate to the fund, contact the MS centre on 01642-461673 or 01642-293586.