Everton soccer star Sylvain Distin displayed some fancy footwork on Sunday in support of a campaign for research into life-saving drugs for a Jewish, south Manchester boy.

The French defender joined 250 women at a charity dance "Zumbathon" in Manchester to raise £7,000 to help 15-month-old David Dee, who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The money will go to Team David, helping to fund the SMA Trust, which is trialling drugs to combat the incurable muscle-wasting disease.

Distin said he "just wanted to help" after seeing David during a visit to children in hospital. He later discovered that he lived around the corner from the family in Altrincham.

"I want to do more stuff with Team David, because it affects you more when it's someone you know," he added.

David's mother, Patricia, said the "amount raised and the support and willingness for people to get involved has been amazing. It's also gone beyond the Jewish community. Sylvain's done so much promotion on Twitter and in the Everton programme. He truly has his heart in the right place."