A DAREDEVIL grandmother from Hurworth is preparing to complete an abseil down Darlington Memorial Hospital on Sunday to raise funds for the RNIB - despite undergoing a recent hip replacement operation.

Anne Johnson, 64, has only just started walking again after her operation five months ago and is also recovering from an emergency appendectomy.

She said: "I used to climb at the Dolphin Centre and I've done abseiling before. I am pretty athletic, I don't like to be immobile."

Mrs Johnson and her husband Brian are both former teachers who worked at Hurworth and Eastbourne Comprehensives.