Air Ambulance Celebrates 40,000 Mission Milestone

Life-saving flying doctors serving the Hfm region have flown their 40,000th mission today.

Air Ambulance Crews

The two helicopters began operating in 2003 and continue to take to the skies thanks entirely to public donations, with no central government funding.

Former patients of the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance and Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, both operated by the Air Ambulance Service, have been reflecting on what the service means to them, as they achieved the milestone.

Roy Tabberer from Fleckney was flown to hospital after being injured and knocked unconscious, when the empty coach he was driving crashed into a bungalow on the outskirts of Welford, after he suffered an epileptic seizure.

The crash involving Roy was featured on the front page of the Leicester Mercury

He told Hfm he has supported the charity ever since the incident in April 2004, donating what he can to it’s shops:

Air Ambulance helicopter

Your Local Air Ambulance CEO, Andy Williamson adds: “This is an incredible milestone for the lifesaving service we provide across our counties and further afield.

“You never know when a call will come in for our vital services, but we do know that when it does, our critical care teams are there for everyone 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“We have reached this 40,000th mission milestone as a charity providing continued support to the NHS which has been vital during these last few months. We have been supported by donations from generous individuals and organisations in the Harborough communities– on behalf of the charity, we thank you all for that.

“After the difficult time we have all found ourselves in, and with the new replacement aircraft underway, we desperately need the public’s support now more than ever to enable us to continue providing leading pre-hospital emergency care to our patients and to reach that next milestone.”

To help your local air ambulance continue to provide its lifesaving service for the people of the Harborough district, please visit www.airambulanceservice.org.uk or call 0300 3045 999