Throwing yourself out of an aeroplane is nerve-wracking at the best of times, but a Liverpool Echo reporter's charity parachute jump became even more nail-biting when it was switched to Friday the 13th.

Scott Faulkner was also scheduled to be the 13th person to jump that day at 1300 hours.

Despite this worrying set of circumstances, Scott lived to tell the tale.

Scott, (26), said: "I had originally waited for five-and-a-half hours to jump but it was very windy and they couldn't guarantee I'd land in a two mile radius!

"You can only jump on a Friday or Saturday and my jump was rearranged for Friday the 13th with two other Liverpudlians. I thought it would make for a better news story but the other two were a bit more wary!

"The worst thing I've done before was to abseil off Liverpool City Tower but the jump was fantastic. It was a tandem jump and I managed to give my instructor a fright because my body wasn't in the banana shape it was supposed to be when we jumped."

The daring stunt was organised to raise money for the Echo's Sunrise Fund which gives grants to local charities. The paper has also adopted the Macmillan Cancer Relief Fund's Our City of Liverpool Appeal.

Scott said: "We have raised several hundred pounds but I still haven't gone round my family collecting money.

"My mum is very superstitious so she didn't know about the jump. She couldn't believe it when I told her!"

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