THE family and friends of a marine who was killed in Afghanistan have taken part in a skydive to raise money in his memory.

David Fairbrother, who had a passion for skydiving, was shot and killed while on patrol in Helmand Province with the 42 Commando Kilo Company in September 2011.

To remember him, 20 of his friends and relatives decided to have a go at his daredevil hobby to try and raise as much money as possible for the Royal Marines Charitable Trust.

Julie Fairbrother, David’s mother, said she was determined to make David proud and that the group had managed to collect between £2,000 and £3,000 through sponsorship for the jump, adding to the £11,646 already collected.

Julie, from Blackburn, said: “It went brilliantly, it was the best thing I have even done in my life.

“David will be proud that we have all done it. That was the first thing my daughter said when she finished.

“David loved skydiving, he will be pleased we are all sharing it and I can understand now why he became fanatic about it.

“I would recommend it to anybody.”

The skydive took place at Black Knights Parachute centre in Garstang, near Preston, where David had been a regular.

David, a former pupil of Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Blackburn, made 108 skydives and managed to convince a number of his family and friends to join him along the way.

His last jump was with his sister Emily, who he had also persuaded to do a tandem skydive for her 18th birthday.

Emily said: “Being a marine meant the world to David and he was extremely proud to have achieved this.

“We, his family and friends, are of course enourmously proud of him too, and this is an opportunity to help a charity that was very close to David's heart.”

To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/david-fairbrother