A GROUP of York daredevils bungee jumped off Middlesbrough’s iconic Transporter Bridge in a bid to raise thousands of pounds to help paralysed Haxby mother Debbie Plowman.

The jump was organised by Rachel Zalewska-Wilson, 26, from Acomb, who danced with Debbie until she broke her neck, severely damaging her spinal cord, when she fell on her head during a pole-dancing exercise class in a York studio in December 2009.

Rachel, who works in event management and who is also a swimming instructor at Roko, said the others who took part in the 170ft jump were Sinead MacMahon, Matthew Dickenson, Bob Unsworth, Jack Unsworth, Ben Faulkes, Nick Cottle and Susan Birkitt, all from York.

“The jump was fantastic,” she said. “It was the best thing I have ever done.

“I was nervous beforehand but some of the others were absolutely petrified. We were waiting at the bottom for about an hour-and-a-half and then had to climb some steps up the side of the bridge, and then wait another half hour to 45 minutes before we could start to jump.

“The jump was over quickly, but then you bounce three or four times and that seems to go on forever.

“We were then winched down to the River Tees, where two men in a boat took us in to shore.”

She said she had raised about £200 while her partner, Matthew Dickenson, raised another £400.

Rachel said she and two other York women, Nanette Cottle and Liz Unsworth, were planning to climb Kilimanjaro in Tanzania next March for the Pole Sport Benevolent Fund, which was set up after Debbie’s accident.

Money raised from this climb will be donated to the Debbie Plowman Happy Faces Trust, which aims to buy vital equipment for the mother-of-two as well as providing funding for Spinal Research UK, the Lascelles unit at Harrogate and Osborn Spinal Unit at Sheffield Northern General.

“Each of us needs to raise a minimum of £3,000 for the climb and we’re looking for help from local companies/sponsors to help with this challenge and raise money for acause close to our hearts.”

For more information, go to polesportsbenevolentfund.org or phone Rachel on 07792 339687. For more information about the Happy Faces Trust, go to facebook.com/debbieplowmanhappyfacestrust.