Hi everyone,

My name is David and I joined National Highways (Highways England) in 2005 as a Traffic Officer patrolling the network and aiding the travelling public around the counties.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as an officer and in the last 16 years attended over 10,000 incidents. Most of these will leave me with fond memories because I helped stranded motorists on their way to reach their destinations safely.  However, sometimes it was really upsetting especially when dealing with a major incident and you knew there may be loss of life.

Over the years, I have had the pleasure of working with some amazing people and organisations. One of these is Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance.  I have witnessed first-hand how these remarkable paramedics make such a difference, especially when time is of the essence and they need to rush injured motorists to specialist care.

When we close the road, the pilots can navigate into the tightest of spaces, allowing them to land safely.  We don’t appreciate how dangerous a task this can be.  And I have seen them operate on critically ill patients on the roadside and save lives which under normal conditions may have been lost.

So why am I asking for your help?

I haven’t felt well for a while and put it down to ‘getting a bit older’

I’m due to retire next year and had planned a full and active retirement for myself and my lovely wife.

In August 2021, I was diagnosed with terminal lung and prostate cancer.  In an instant, my dreams and hopes to spend more time with my family were gone.  Everything we had put on the back burner to do once I retired, is no longer possible and I find myself planning a bucket list of things to achieve in a very short space of time… as well as my funeral.

One of my wishes is to raise enough money to fill a KSSAA helicopter with a tank of fuel.  You might think that would be easy, but every time they take off, it can cost more than £4600. Together, I’m hoping we can get them up in the air to save one more life.

It would make me feel so proud to know that we all came together to do this for an amazing group of people who never ask for any recognition. They simply do their job!

In the future, when you see the Air Ambulance overhead, think of the people they are going to help and the families who may need that extra special thought going out to them on what may be a sad and upsetting day.

Together… we can make this happen!