THE uncle of 'miracle' baby Sam Cooper-Stevens is preparing to conquer his paralysing fear of heights to raise money for a service which helped save his nephew's life.

Matt Stevens from Watchet is planning to jump out of a plane and drop thousands of feet to the ground to boost the funds of the regional air ambulances.

But although he will be strapped to an expert as he undertakes the tandem skydive, 33-year-old Matt is literally terrified of heights.

"It's a running joke amongst my family and friends," he said.

"But because I am so afraid, I'm hoping people will realise just how much it means to me and all my family to raise as much money as I can."

Six-month-old Sam - the only child of Matt's brother Martyn and his partner Kate Cooper - survived a freak accident which left him submerged face-down for almost five minutes in the icy waters of the Bristol Channel just under a fortnight ago.

As reported last week, the youngster was out for a walk with Kate and the family's two dogs when strong winds blew his pushchair off Watchet's West Pier.

Incredibly, he emerged unscathed with no apparent lasting damage and was back home in Watchet last Friday after spending five days in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton.

Local people - including marina dockmaster George Reeder, who jumped into the water to retrieve the buggy, and psychiatric nurse Tanya Allen, who performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation for the first time ever on Sam's limp and seemingly lifeless body - played a crucial role in his survival, along with local coastguard and fire brigade co-responder teams.

But the air ambulance service also had a vital part to play - Sam was flown to hospital by the Devon Air Ambulance, whose crew overcame difficult weather conditions to land near the scene of the incident.

And Matt will be doing his skydive to raise funds for both the Devon service and the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, which also responds to emergencies across West Somerset.

"The outcome of Sam's accident could have been so different if the sequence of events had not gone as they did and the people involved had not acted as they did," said Matt.

"Everyone was amazing, including the air ambulance and we still can't believe that Sam came through it."

Matt, Martyn and their brother Kris had all intended to tackle the sponsored skydive but as they would each have to raise £250 to cover the cost they decided an effort by all three would take away valuable fundraising.

"We would be asking the same people for sponsorship so we decided just one of us would do it," said Matt, who works in human resources for department chain Debenhams.

"The other two aren't scared of heights at all and everyone knows I am.

"When I was about eight I went up the tower at Decuman's Church, got halfway up and couldn't move.

"It took the vicar an hour and a half to coax me down.

"So this is going to be a massive achievement for me."

Matt has set himself a target of raising at least £1,500 and launched the fundraising ahead of the skydive at Dunkeswell in Devon at the end of March by setting up an online donation site - http://www.justgiving.com/">www.justgiving.com/

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He is also planning to contact local businesses for sponsorship and put sponsorship forms in local shops.

People can also ring him on 07875 151682 to make a donation.

Meanwhile, Sam is continuing to recover from his ordeal.

Grandmother Elaine Stevens said: "He has to go back to hospital for check-ups but he is absolutely fine.

"Words can't express what it's like to have him home again."

l Sam's accident has prompted West Somerset Council, which owns the West Pier, to undertake a risk assessment of the area.

A spokesman for the authority said any action that might be required would be decided once the assessment had been completed.

"The council is delighted that Sam is recovering well and would commend all those people who helped deliver this happy outcome and prevent what could have been a terrible tragedy."