FALLING 3,500 feet with only a parachute to save them would be a nightmare scenario for most people but for Trawden woman Leanne Gorman it was done in the name of a very good cause.

Leanne, 31, of East View, had taken the plunge last year when she did a tandem parachute jump from 10,000 feet. This time she decided to go it alone. Despite last-minute nerves she completed her solo parachute jump to raise between £500 and £600 for the fundraising group The Friends of Harambee Surgery in Trawden.

She said: "It was amazing. I didn't think I could do it but once I had jumped it was great. I was petrified when it came time to climb out of the plane. The man said 'go' and I said 'I can't'. Then I just stepped off and when I looked up and saw the parachute open it was fantastic.

"I looked for the cross in the field where I had to land and kept my eye on it all the time until I was down."

When I think back to the tandem one with the instructor I know I had nothing to worry about but with this one I was concerned about the parachute malfunctioning."

Leanne had to undertake seven hours of training for the jump at the Black Knight Parachute Centre near Lancaster but said it was all worthwhile.

She added: "I would do it again and now my two brothers are talking about doing one. They just don't want to be outdone by their little sister."

The money Leanne raised will go towards the Friends of Harambee's fundraising target of £4,500 to buy a defibrillator and a machine for testing patients for illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis.