A 79-YEAR-OLD woman is taking part in a 15,000ft skydive in memory of her granddaughter, Natasha Scott-Falber.

Jean Earl, along with 17 other volunteers, will be taking to the skies to raise awareness for Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS).

Natasha was 14 years old when she passed away after contracting TSS.

Family and friends of Natasha have been working tirelessly to raise awareness of TSS and its symptoms.

The skydive will take place on Friday 26th February to coincide with Natasha’s 18th birthday.

Natasha’s mum Mandy Scott said: “We were watching a skydive last March and mum said ‘If my doctor says I can do it, then I’ll skydive for Tash’s 18th birthday’.

“I didn’t think she was being serious initially, but it soon became apparent that she was. I thought I’d better encourage her to go to the doctor and he gave her the go-ahead.

“The main reason we’re doing the skydive is a conversation I had with Tash about the things we’d like to but didn’t have the guts to do.

“A skydive was on the top of both our lists.”

Friends and families of Natasha will travel to Salisbury Plain where they will plummet a total of 2.8 miles and will free fall for 60 seconds.

“We’re taking a coach full of people along with us so hopefully they’ll keep us busy and enthusiastic so we don’t have time to think about it”, said Mandy, “I’ll keep my eyes open for the whole thing because I won’t be doing it again!”

For more information about Toxic Shock Syndrome, visit the family’s TSS aware website at www.tssaware.org.uk