VILLAGERS whose lives have been touched by the air ambulance have completed a charity skydive for the service.

Marianne Ivison, from Catterick , in North Yorkshire, says the Great North Air Ambulance has landed four or five times in the village after responding to emergencies.

After speaking to resident Zak Nevison, who was airlifted to hospital by the air ambulance service in March, Ms Ivison decided to take part in a skydive.

Mr Nevison was involved in a car accident as he rode on his motorbike from Leyburn to Catterick.

He was airlifted to hospital with serious leg injuries, from which he is still recovering.

On Saturday, he made a 10,000ft parachute jump at Peterlee Airfield, east Durham, alongside Ms Ivison, Raymond Leeks, Nathan Mott and Daniel Holmes.

They raised more than £2,400 for the Great North Air Ambulance. Ms Ivison said: “I met Zak and spoke with him one night and we were saying it would be a good idea to pay back the Great North Air Ambulance for being rescued after his accident.

“There was another guy in the village here who was airlifted to hospital not long ago, he was one of the first to sponsor us.”