On 3rd October 2023, my life was saved by London's Air Ambulance, which came to my rescue after my bike collided with another bike and I fell into a busy road while cycling to work in central London. I suffered life-threatening critical injuries, including collapsed lungs and internal bleeding, which caused a severe drop in blood pressure, requiring 4 pints of blood transfusion at the scene of the accident, among serious damage to multiple other internal organs and over 24 bone fractures in my ribs and torso.

Had London's Air Ambulance's advanced trauma doctors not come to my rescue by helicopter, I would not have survived the accident. Their urgent action meant that I lived long enough to make it to Kings College Hospital's Emergency Department, where I then spent 11 agonisingly painful days in Intensive Care, and a further 14 days in a Major Trauma ward. The fact that such a vital emergency service is provided by a charity astounds me, so I am fundraising to ensure they can continue to rescue others like myself in future.

It costs approximately £15 million a year for the charity to provide London with an advanced trauma care service 24/7. In 2021-22 the charity treated 1,773 patients, and 642 of those were helicopter missions, like the mission that saved my life. Each helicopter mission understandably costs a huge amount, so all donations are hugely appreciated.

I visited the charity's HQ as a survivor in mid-March, meeting the two London's Air Ambulance doctors, Dom and Amar, who saved my life on the roadside that day. I got to see the helipad and understand how the charity responds to accidents like mine - I was hugely impressed and quite emotional!

I've still a long physical recovery ahead of me, but I'm determined to get back to my favourite sports, and I'm working towards running the Royal Parks Half-Marathon in London on 13th October 2024 to fundraise! I've lots of training ahead to re-expand my lung capacity, re-build my muscles and cardiovascular endurance, and lots more physio to repair the muscle damage and ongoing pain in my right shoulder and upper back around my thoracic spine.

A huge thank you from the bottom of my heart for any donations you can make to support this vital charity's ongoing work saving lives.

Virginia

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https://www.londonsairambulance.org.uk/about-us/how-we-are-funded

https://issuu.com/londonsairambulance1/docs/laac_annual_review_impact_report_2021_22