A mother will be flying high to celebrate the first birthday of her baby daughter - quite literally.

Gina Glover from Maidstone is planning to do a wing-walk on April 2, strapped to the top of a Boeing Stearman light aircraft.

She will take off from Headcorn aerodrome and travel at speeds up to 110mph, some 700ft off the ground.

But her daring adventure is for a serious purpose - to raise funds for the neonatal intensive care unit at Pembury Hospital.

April 2 would be her baby Bonnie's first birthday by due date, but actually little Bonnie made her appearance much earlier on February 3 last year, after Mrs Glover caught Covid while pregnant.

She said: "I caught Covid and I couldn’t fight it. I was taken into hospital initially just for the weekend, rehydrated and sent home.

"But I got worse, I just couldn't breathe and I was taken back in."

She said: "It was decided after my being in hospital for a gruelling three days of absolute hell that I needed a emergency C-section to save both my life and my baby's.

"Our beautiful daughter was born at 30 weeks weighing just 3.5lbs.

"I was sent straight to intensive care and she to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

"I was on a ventilator for three days and then still on oxygen in intensive care for another two.

"Bonnie was transferred to Medway Maritime Hospital because they could provide a higher level of specialist care there."

She said: "She had to be ventilated for the first week of her precious life.

"We were keep apart for the longest 14 days!

"To say it was emotional when I and my husband Dean met her for the first time is an understatement!

"She spent a total of seven weeks in NICU and was then discharged weighing 6lb 2oz, but still needing full time oxygen and medication.

"Today, 11 months later, she is off the oxygen and doing ever so well.

Mrs Glover said: "Despite the horror if it all, I consider that we were among the lucky ones.

"I will be forever in debt to the NHS for saving my life and that of my beautiful baby girl."

The NHS cares for more than 90,000 babies needing special life-saving care in Neonatal Intensive Care Units every year.

Mrs Glover, 37, already had one child, a two-year-old daughter named Frankie. She said: "I just felt I had to give something back.

"My aim is to raise as much money as I can for the charity Ickle Pickles to help them purchase the vital equipment that NICUs so desperately need."

She said: "It was my husband who came up with the idea of a wing-walk, hopefully people will sponsor that.

"I was quite calm but I am getting more and more nervous as they day approaches. I've never done anything like that before, not even been up in a light aircraft.

"But if I can help anybody else, whose baby's life is at risk, it will be worth it.

"Please, any sponsorship money would be gratefully received."

Mrs Glover also has a message for expectant mums.

She said: "When this happened to us, the Government advice at the time was that pregnant mums shouldn't be vaccinated - and I wasn't.

"That advice has changed and I wouldn't hesitate to get the vaccine now!"

Mrs Glover has created a JustGiving page where people can sponsor her wing-walk.

Visit here.