Hello Friends,
On the 12th of September (this Sunday) I am running in the Great North Run, which is largest half marathon in the UK.
The reason I’m running it (other than masochism) is to raise money in support of the wonderful work of the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS).
On the 23rd of June 2008, my sister Libby (aged 4) was being driven to Wallington (a national trust property in the North East) when on the A696, the car collided head on with a lorry carrying timber. The impact killed the driver instantly and trapped Libby under the wreckage of her car seat.
Fire crew cut her out of the car and transferred her into the Great North Air Ambulance which then flew her to the Newcastle General Hospital in Newcastle in a critical condition, a journey which would have taken far longer in a conventional ambulance.
The speed and efficiency of the service meant she arrived at hospital in time for them to stabilise her, and ultimately save her life. XRays later revealed she had fractured a bone in her neck (C2), an injury which can result in paraplegia, as well as both bones in her lower left leg.
She spent 6 days in ITU and was fitted with a Halo which is a device which holds the head completely still relative to the body by using a frame which connects bolts in the skull to a harness worn on the body. She was later transferred to a paediatric ward, where she spent just over 5 weeks before returning home and she had to sleep in downstairs to avoid use of the stairs and walked with the aid of a frame. Libby’s halo was removed at the end of October 2008.
Libby is now 17 and can lead a normal life involving exercise, friendships and teenage drama with the Great North Air ambulance being the main reason she is able to do so.
Today the GNAAS still rescues hundreds of severely injured or ill patients every year throughout the North East, North Yorkshire and Cumbria. Their doctor-led critical care teams deliver life-saving treatments at the scene of the incident whether that is on a fell top, a roadside or in a city centre. The charity responded to 1,640 call outs last year alone, via their helicopter and emergency response vehicles, where they performed treatments and procedures which can mean the difference between life or death.
Any donations will mean the world to me and this wonderful charity.