A daring young Troon woman is to take on a 10,000 foot skydive to raise money for charity.

Kirsty Buckingham, 17, is a sixth year pupil at Marr College and is taking on the MS Society’s Big Leap skydive in May.

She is taking on the dive for her dad’s girlfriend who has multiple sclerosis, which is a condition that can affect the brain and spinal cord.

Kirsty will take off from Auchterarder in Perthshire on World MS Day (30 May) and will free fall at over 120 mph before returning safely to earth.

Speaking about her challenge, Kirsty said: “My dad’s girlfriend, Maxine, has MS so it’s something I have a link to and I wanted to raise some money and awareness for the condition.

“I heard about the skydive and, although it’s quite scary, it’s something I’ve always wanted to try so I signed up. I’ve never done anything like this before but I’m a bit of a thrill-seeker so I’m looking forward to it”.

Kirsty has already smashed her fundraising target with more than £600 of donations received so far, a month ahead of the jump.

She added: “Until my dad told me I didn’t know Maxine had

MS – it’s not something I knew about as a lot of symptoms are invisible.

“I’ve read up about it since then and spoken to Maxine about it as well because she, of course, knows what it’s like to live with. Speaking to her has given me a much better insight into what it’s like.

“Quite a few people have asked me about it since. A friend of mine’s step-mum has MS as well and it’s something we’ve talked about now which we hadn’t before.

“It’s nice that people are talking about it more as a result.

“People have been really supportive, sharing my fundraising on social media and my dad’s helped by sharing it with his colleagues.”

Kirsty’s dad’s girlfriend Maxine said: “I’m just really proud of Kirsty for taking on this challenge.

“There’s no way I’d do a skydive so it’s very impressive. We visited Blackpool and I screamed the park down so it’s definitely not for me.

“It raises awareness for other young people and starts a conversation. It gives people a chance to ask more about it because it’s just a couple of words until you come into contact with it”.

You can donate to Kirsty’s fundraising at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kirstys-skydive/.