For the past ten years Andrew Samuels, pictured, has risen to the challenges that life as a multiple sclerosis sufferer has flung at him.

So when a research team sent him a letter offering to really test his courage, 39-year-old Andrew could not resist having a go. His legs may be crippled and much of the time he has to rely on a wheelchair to get about, but he is determined they won't let him down on a 10,000-ft sky-dive.

Andrew, who was forced to give up his job at a Keighley engineering firm because of his illness - he feared losing his balance and falling into a machine - is making the jump on Sunday, August 11 at an airfield near Brigg in Lincolnshire.

He will fall in tandem, strapped to an experienced sky-diver, in aid of the Multiple Sclerosis Research Trust.

"When I asked my wife Liz if I could do it, she said 'Yes' but that I must do it in tandem. I think if I did it on my own I'd kill myself," said Andrew, who now lives in Grimsby.

"I gather you don't have to do a lot in tandem - I don't need to learn any particular skills. Somebody else does all the work.

"All I have to do is be able to bend my legs on landing, so I don't crush them. I'm having to have special physiotherapy and I'm exercising because at the moment my legs are very stiff."

But Andrew, a former student at Greenhead Grammar School, Keighley, admitted he was nervous about the challenge.

"Most of the time I think I can do it, no problem. At other times I think I must be wrong in my head.

"But the challenge is worth it. It's for a very good cause and more money needs to go into researching the disease.

"I'm not confined to a wheelchair. I get about using a frame on wheels, but if I have to go any distance - such as for shopping - I need a wheelchair."

Andrew has been seeking work but because of his disability - he also has difficulty holding objects - suitable jobs are difficult to find.

"My wife is a teacher and I like to help out at school, especially making props for school shows," he said.

Andrew was diagnosed with the disease about ten years ago. He has progressive multiple sclerosis as opposed to the relapsing and remitting type.

Andrew is delighted with the sponsorship response he has had from friends and local businesses and hopes friends in Keighley will be as generous.

Anyone who wants to sponsor him should telephone (07813) 123097.

A spokesman for the Multiple Sclerosis Research Trust said the challenge was either a 10,000-ft ski-dive or a 3,000ft solo parachute jump.

Money raised would go towards the research programme.

Anyone wanting more information should telephone the trust on (01462) 476700.