WHEN Tadcaster Grammar School pupil Flora Nelson needed a special new wheelchair, her teaching assistant decided to jump-start the fundraising challenge.

James Burns took to the skies for a sponsored skydive from 11,000 ft to raise hundreds of pounds towards the costs of the equipment.

He said he found the experience “pretty nerve-racking”, and not one he planned to repeat in a hurry.

He said: “I think what made it worse was the fact I was the last man to jump and my knees were physically knocking.

“I wasn’t too keen on the landing either, as I had been told if I didn’t tuck my knees well up I could sustain a broken leg or similar injury.”

James, who works alongside Flora in the school’s learning support centre, went with five others to Peterlee in the north east to take part in the jump.

He raised £300 towards the cost of a custom-built, lightweight wheelchair which will enable Flora to move around school more independently.

Flora, 12, of Church Fenton, suffers from severe hearing impairment and verbal dyspraxia as well as being unable to walk.

Her parents, David and Sally Nelson, praised James’s achievements. They said: “This is a fantastic effort by James.

“We are extremely grateful, not just to James, but to all those who have supported him with their sponsorship.”

The lightweight, crash-tested wheelchair Flora needs will cost between £2,000 and £3,000. The next fundraising event will be a sponsored bike ride by Mrs Nelson’s nephew, Duncan Haynes.