A NEWPORT woman is taking to the skies to raise money for a kidney charity.

Maureen Hendon, 41, an electoral registration officer with Monmouthshire council, was diagnosed with kidney failure ten years ago.

Since then she has undergone three kidney transplants but they failed and she is currently waiting for her fourth.

But that is not going to stop her jumping 12,000 feet from a plane to help raise funds for Kidney Research UK.

Ms Hendon's ordeal began with a routine medical check when she was just 16 years old.

Until then Ms Hendon, who is from Malpas, had no idea that she had only one kidney.

She said: "It's actually not that uncommon to be born with one kidney, and you can be fine, but unfortunately I also had high blood pressure, which put an added strain on it."

After a number of years her one kidney failed and she had a series of transplants.

Ms Hendon is currently undergoing eight hours of dialysis a day, but she has just been put back on to the transplant register and is looking forward to the chance of a new lease of life.

And after everything she has been through the thought of jumping from a few thousand feet doesn't faze her.

She said: "I'm not particularly nervous about it, in fact I'm quite looking forward to it."

Ms Hendon will join 15 others at an army base in Cirencester at the end of February to do the parachute jump, and is hoping to raise as much cash as possible.

She said: "I've already raised £600, but I want to raise as much as I can for such a worthy charity."