LIFE for the family of schoolboy Andrew Maharaj has been turned upside down in the past year since the once lively nine-year-old was stricken with a mystery virus.

The Calne youngster is now confined to a wheelchair but was still on hand on Saturday to watch charity parachutists leap from a plane to help buy him a new wheelchair.

Among those taking part were Gazette editor Gary Lawrence and reporter Lewis Cowen.

They raised more than £450 between them towards the £3,500 target set by Danbi Children's Trust to purchase the wheelchair for nine-year-old Andrew Maharaj.

Just over a year ago Andrew, at that time a pupil at St Edmund's RC Primary School in Calne, complained of stomach pains but within days he was unable to move and since then has been confined to a wheelchair.

Andrew's mother, Desiree, said: "The doctors have been unable to say which virus it was that did the damage or what the future holds for Andrew. He has been very patient but he is so much looking forward to having his own motorised wheelchair.

"He manages well enough with the ordinary wheelchair but it is very limiting for him. The new chair will give him much more freedom and hopefully he will able to live a more normal life."

Mrs Maharaj has personally raised £618 sponsorship for her static-line parachute jump for which she trained all last Saturday, only for the weather to close in and for the jump to be postponed until this coming Saturday.

Static line jumps involve parachuting from a height of 3,500 feet using a Ram Air canopy designed to open within seconds of leaving the plane. Parachutists are then on their own for the drop to the ground. Most of the Danbi jumpers, however, signed up for a tandem jump, strapped to members of the Red Devils, the Combined Services free-fall parachute display team which trains at its headquarters in Netheravon, near Pewsey.

Among the first to go was Gazette editor Gary Lawrence, who was securely fastened to instructor Dane Richardson for his 13,500-foot jump. After 45 seconds in free fall, Mr Richardson pulled the canopy release and floated gently down to a perfect landing just a few feet from waiting spectators.

Mr Lawrence, who was celebrating his 40th birthday, said: "It was a fantastic thrill. But it was all over so quickly. They said we were in free fall for 45 seconds but it was all over in the blink of an eye."

Fortunately, he will have a permanent record of the occasion as another Red Devil, Adrian 'Tich' Whybrow, was recording it with both a digital video and still camera a service the Army Parachute Association offers for a very reasonable £60.

Most of the Danbi jumpers managed to undertake their tandem free-falls on Saturday but at around 3pm the weather took a turn for the worse.

Heavy clouds rolled over as one flight of parachutists had just taken off.

They were obliged to come back to earth in a more conventional way and to wait for a gap in the poor weather.

Amy Hallett, from Calne, was one of the disappointed passengers. She said: "We had been given our last minute checks and told we would be going in a few minutes. Then a message came over the radio calling us back down. It is very frustrating."

Worse was to follow as a break came in the clouds and the parachutists were called together in the preparation area.

But a plane could not be got ready in time and the fundraisers were told they had missed their chance.

Lewis Cowen missed out entirely after waiting since 8.15am. But if he was expecting any sympathy from parachute jump organiser Gwyn Burton, he had another thing coming.

Mr Burton said: "Parachuting is a weather-dependent sport, a fact we make clear in the paperwork we send out. We are delighted we got so many people up today. We weren't expecting to do so well. Just sit down, have a beer and enjoy your day in the country."

Mr Cowen now hopes to do his jump at the end of the month.

The Danbi jump team included, from Calne, Gary Jureczko, John Murphy, Desiree Maharaj, Amy Hallett, Ian Barrett, Lynsey Green, Dani Nash, and Gary Lawrence from Chippenham: Dan Clarke from Wootton Bassett: Lewis Cowen, Paul Clack, Claire Hulse and Andy Wade from the Devizes area.