A couple have launched a 'sky-high' campaign to highlight a rare life-threatening liver condition in babies.

The first event will be a 15,000ft skydive to raise awareness and cash for two specialist charities. The joy of Ilkley couple Dave Harker and Gemma Pascal turned into their worst nightmare when, nine weeks after he was born, their son Amos had to have a life-saving operation.

It was discovered he had the life-threatening liver condition biliary atresia, a rare condition in newborns where the common bile duct between the liver and the small intestine becomes blocked.

If unrecognised, it leads to fatal liver damage. Even if surgery is successful, many patients go on to have a liver transplant in a couple of years.

Only around 50 new cases are diagnosed in the UK each year and the cause is unknown.

Mr Harker, a dental technician, said ultrasound scans during Gemma's pregnancy had shown Amos had a cyst, but they had no idea he was suffering from the condition until they took him to the doctor with worries about jaundice.

He was rushed to hospital in Leeds, one of only three centres in the UK which has the surgical expertise to treat such cases.

"He had to have the operation literally to save his life," said Mr Harker. "The cyst was actually as a consequence of the tube being blocked.

"They said at the time it was just a stop gap but they did what they needed to and it has worked so far. But the chances are he will still need a liver transplant at some time in his life so we're doing these fund-raising events to help research and help the unit which did his operation."

Find out more about Amos and his condition in this week's Gazette & Observer.