Former sports teacher Vicki Gilbert, who was wrongly diagnosed with brain cancer when she was 19, will swim 21 miles for the Wetherby charity, while her husband Sean will run 21 miles.

The 35-year-old, who lives in Yeadon, hit the headlines in 2000 when she sued her former health authority after her leg was amputated and she endured months of chemotherapy, despite not having cancer.

Doctors gave her the wrong diagnosis and she later won £1.2m in a legal battle – and although she now wears a prosthetic leg, the mum-of-two says swimming is one of the only ways she can exercise.

"I was only a young adult when I was told I had cancer," she said. "So although I wasn't treated in a children's hospice, I can completely understand how important they are.

"They're vital and God forbid, if my children ever needed one, it's a comfort to know they're there.

"Swimming is one of the main ways I keep fit because I can't do much exercise on the prosthetic leg.

"I don't wear it in the pool, which was strange at first, but I'm used to it now.

"We're aiming to raise at least £2,100 from the challenge. I'm swimming my lengths in one-and-a-half mile sections, which I hope to finish by the end of August."

Vicki, who lives with Sean, 39, and their children Hope, six, and Jack, two, started helping Martin House 18 months ago .

After slowly becoming more involved, she came up with the idea of a sponsored swim – and decided the hospice's 21st birthday was the perfect time to complete the challenge.

She later roped in Sean, a quantity surveyor, who will run his 21 miles around a route in Yeadon on August 2.

"We're both really looking forward to the challenge," said Vicki, who now works as a sign language teacher.

To sponsor Vicki and Sean click here