A DARING trio are preparing to jump out of a plane at 10,000 feet to raise vital cash for a Romsey family on a desperate hunt for bone marrow donors.

Bookshop manager Simon Hunter roped in two friends to make the leap next month.

He wants to raise £1,500 for the Anthony Nolan Trust to help put potential bone marrow donors on the national register, after more than 600 signed up at a mammoth clinic held at his store.

Simon, 28, was the brains behind the one-off bone marrow donor session at Volumes bookshop, in Bell Street, Romsey.

It was held in March, just after the Hartley family made their emotional appeal for help following the shocking discovery that all four boys suffered from one of the world's rarest genetic disorders.

Joshua, 12, Nathan, 10, Daniel, eight and four-year-old Luke all urgently need a bone marrow transplant - otherwise they may not live past their teens.

Joshua has found a match in his mother, Allison, and is today starting chemotherapy at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital to prepare him to receive the vital transplant on June 9.

A mystery woman has been discovered who is a match for Daniel but donors still urgently need to be found for the other two boys.

Now Simon, who knows the Hartleys through Romsey's New Life Church, wants to raise cash to help put more donors on the register, and boost the hunt for matches for the other two boys.

"It costs £70 for the Anthony Nolan Trust to put each donor on the list and we just want to help them process all the extra work we caused when we held the session," said Simon.

"We were amazed at the response but now we want to raise as much as possible to help out further."

Youth worker Emma West and friend Jamie Butt will be joining Simon on the tandem skydive on June 19.

"If hundreds of young children can be brave enough to face and conquer leukaemia and other illnesses then surely I can be brave enough to jump out of a plane," added Simon.

To sponsor the trio, pick up a form from Volumes or call 01794 516404.