I was lucky enough to get a place in the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October 2019 and am using this as an opportunity to raise money for the London Air Ambulance (LAA).

LAA is a helicopter operating out of the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, London. It can reach people who have suffered physical trauma (road traffic accidents, victims of violent crime etc.) within seconds, transporting surgeons, doctors and paramedics who can attend to the patient at the scene. In a lot of these cases, the time taken to reach the patient is crucial and can be the difference between life and death (they can get surgeons to a scene in seconds vs. an ambulance which has to drive through traffic and would take much longer). 

When my mum was involved in a car accident, the Air Ambulance arrived at the scene within seconds, with surgery being performed for an hour at the scene. If there was ever a chance of survival from this accident, it would have been because the right people were there nearly immediately (thanks to the Air Ambulance). I learned a lot about how trauma like this needs to be addressed immediately to maximise the chances of survival. I will always feel very grateful that these resources were brought to bear at this awful time. I will never question the fact that everything that could have been done, was done, thanks to the Air Ambulance.

She did not survive her injuries and we have since raised money for causes important to her. I am taking this opportunity to make a contribution to this wonderful charity, so that they can continue to do their life saving work and give trauma victims the best possible chances of survival.

Few people (myself included until not long ago) realise that London's Air Ambulance is a charity and not NHS funded! Please spare what you can - I will be making donations along the way too. I appreciate so many people have given generously to other causes in my Mum's name, but I will keep this one ticking over alongside!

Thank you, Helena