A Bicester mother who lost her son to cancer last year took part in a fundraising parachute jump on what would have been his 12th birthday.

Maria Barbosa, 37, above, of Cooper's Green, jumped out of a plane 10,000ft above Weston-on-the-Green airfield on Sunday.

She made the jump in memory of her son Steven, a former Glory Farm School pupil who died last March, aged 10.

As a young child Steven suffered kidney failure, and had a transplant at the age of eight with a kidney donated by his mother.

But he fell ill last March with a virus which doctors believe had laid dormant in his body since the transplant. The virus led to cancer and Steven died at Helen House in Oxford.

Mrs Barbosa, a Stagecoach bus driver, believes her jump raised between £1,000 and £1,500 for the hospice. She said: "It was absolutely brilliant. Giving Steven my kidney was a very special experience and doing the jump on Sunday for him was equally special, but in a different way."

Mrs Barbosa and her husband Felipe, said they feel they could not have coped when Steven passed away without the help of Helen House.

Mrs Barbosa said: "Helen House is a paradise in the middle of the Cowley Road. They hadn't even had the chance to get to know us before Steven died, but they looked after us so wonderfully I cant put it into words. We stayed there for nearly two weeks, and my mother-in-law stayed there too so we could all be with Steven, who stayed in their Little Room until the funeral. They fed us, comforted us and warmed us."

Mrs Barbosa made the jump alongside 17 other supporters of the hospice.

Helen House provides hospice care for children with life-shortening illnesses and offers support for their families. Together with neighbouring Douglas House, it needs just under £4m a year to provide.

David Pastor, head of fundraising at Helen and Douglas House, said: "We are very grateful to all of the jumpers and to all those people who have sponsored them.

"When children and young adults stay with us our emphasis is on living life to the full, even in difficult circumstances. I think these brave people have definitely taken that to heart."