A seriously ill teenager could soon see her dream come true, thanks to a fitness fanatic friend of the family.

Sue Davies, from Trowbridge, who teaches martial arts and fitness classes in Corsham and Chippenham, has arranged a charity session to raise money to teach Jess Reynolds to surf.

The 13-year-old was diagnosed with severe asthma and eczema when she was born, as well as having bone marrow problems which required her to wear a leg cast for six months.

To compound matters, she has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and needs four insulin injections every day.

Mrs Davies said: “She’s such a lovely kid, such a fighter, and if you saw her you wouldn’t know she had health problems.

“She’s lost a little bit of her confidence, so I wanted to do something nice for her.”

Mrs Davies met Jess’ mother Karen Reynolds at a fitness class nine years ago, and the two have remained firm friends ever since.

Mrs Reynolds said: “She has had so many things to come in her short life and this one’s a little bit harder to swallow, especially just as she’s into her teenage years.

“Since this all happened to her she has made a list of things she wants to do. She wanted to swim with dolphins, which we can’t do as she has to stay in the country with her illness, she wanted to jump out of a plane, which I just said no to, and then learning to surf was on there.”

Mrs Davies said: “This gave me the idea of doing something to raise money for her to do just that, which I know she would love and would really give her something to look forward to. We’re hoping to raise £500.”

The charity session will be at the Springfield Leisure Centre on Sunday at 12.30pm.

For more information, call Sue Davies on 0794 854 4308.