The mother of a little boy with additional needs has jumped out of a plane at 14,000ft and raised over a thousand pounds towards his school.

Samantha Smith took on a ‘terrifying’ skydive to help raise funds to build a sensory room for Chapel Street Infants and Nursery School in Dalton.

Helping the school achieve its goal was especially important to Samantha and her family because her son has additional needs and is currently undergoing analysis.

The school’s new sensory room hopes to include Fiber Optic LEDs, a UV floor, movement sensors, black-out windows and infinity tunnels. The school needs to raise between £10,000 and £15,000 to make their sensory room a reality.

The room will provide a calming space for children with additional needs, particularly those diagnosed with autism, ADHD and other disorders.

Samantha said: “I feel very privileged to do this for such an amazing school. They are absolutely outstanding with my boy and he loves it there. This room will have a major impact on those that need a little safe space or a room for a timeout or even to boost imagination."

Although she initially aimed to raise £500, Samantha smashed her target and has reached £1,320 - but hopes to raise even more before the cut-off point.

Samantha jumped on Sunday May 5 and described her skydive as the most terrifying yet amazing thing she has ever done. She said: “I knew I had no option but committ - there was no backing out from it - when I agree to something I don’t like to fail.

“I’m so proud of myself but it still doesn’t feel real. I wasn’t scared until the door opened and I saw how high we were, up with all the white clouds.

“I did struggle to breathe on the free fall and believe I passed out for a few seconds but came back around with a big smile on my face.”

Samantha said was very nervous about the jump and stepping out of her comfort zone but was determined to do it at any cost to raise funds and awareness for parents with neurodivergent children.

There is still time to donate to Samantha’s Just Giving Page