David — who is 6ft 5ins tall — has lost around two stone since learning that he had to weigh under 15 stone in order to take part in a charity skydive for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

He said: "I was just over 16-and-a-half stone but because of my height I was only a little bit overweight.

"I never ate a lot of junk food — I was the same weight for a long time but never properly tried to lose weight.This has given me the incentive to do it."

Twenty-six-year-old David, of Cobnar Drive, Dunston, has joined in with his mum's Slimming World diet and has taken to eating salad for lunch everyday and started swimming several times a week.

"It's been quite easy to lose the weight in a way," he said. "The only thing that has bothered me is I have had to cut out bread and it's difficult to find anything quick to eat that doesn't involve bread!"

David is hoping to raise around £1,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust by doing the tandem skydive on September 6.

It is a cause he has regularly raised money for since a family friend was born with the disease.

He added: "A skydive is something I have always fancied doing and when the opportunity came up to do it for cystic fibrosis I couldn't turn it down."

* To sponsor David visit his website www.justgiving.com/davefareham.