MARTIN Webster has multiple sclerosis and he's wheelchair-bound - but it doesn't stop him leading life to the full.

Next month he'll be taking to the skies - in a plane 10,000ft above Ulverston in Cumbria and, strapped to another man, will jump out and sky dive down to earth. Only his instructor's parachute will ease their fall.

Action-man Martin, 37, of Preston Road, Longridge, is taking part in a charity stunt to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. He vehemently supports the cause and does a lot for the group - but one day he hopes to make it redundant!

The former mechanic had to give up his job when he was diagnosed as suffering from MS - the disease which attacks the nervous system. Now he spends his time at the University of Central Lancashire where he's doing Health Studies. When he finishes the course, he plans to go on to do a Masters Degree and investigate the causes - and hopefully a cure - for MS. Martin said: "I've some ideas about what causes it, but no one knows for sure yet. I think it's a combination of environmental and genetic factors. It could be pollution or it could be a childhood disease which sparks it off.

"If you can find the cause, you can prevent it, and that's my main area of interest."

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