Why London Needs A Second Air Ambulance

By Sponsor Last edited 104 months ago
Why London Needs A Second Air Ambulance

This is a sponsored article in partnership with London's Air Ambulance.

Michael's 10-year-old daughter Annie explains what she'd like to do on a visit to London.

Donating to a charity isn’t usually on a 10-year-old’s list of things to do in London. But Annie has her reasons for wanting to pay something back to London’s Air Ambulance and help them get a much needed second helicopter. London’s Air Ambulance treated Annie’s dad after he slipped off a ladder at their family home and plunged from more than five meters, landing on his back.

Many people, like Annie’s father Michael, have experienced exactly what it’s like to need London’s Air Ambulance. But the charity needs us too. They bring immediate, life-saving treatment to the side of around five critically injured people every day, with the aid of just one helicopter. The problem is, when the helicopter is undergoing maintenance, the service cannot fly. Last year that was for 55 days — and that's exactly why the Your London, Your Helicopter campaign was launched — to fund a much-needed second one.

Donate what you can and join in building the helicopter on their site, seeing exactly what helicopter part your money has helped to buy.

A second helicopter, and flying longer in the summer months, would mean London’s Air Ambulance could reach up to 400 more people by helicopter each year. Michael, a father of four, recalls what went through his mind immediately after his fall as he was lying on the floor with six broken traverse processes in his spine and three broken ribs. “Oh my God, what sort of condition must I be in, I remember thinking as the noise of helicopter blades got louder. When the helicopter landed behind my house, I knew I was in the best possible hands.”

“Living and working in London, I have seen London’s Air Ambulance many times. But you don’t think this is going to happen to you until… well… it happens." Read more about Michael’s story

Annie and her family. Luckily, London's only helicopter was available on the day of her father's accident.

Since his accident Michael and his family have been supporting the charity that has had such a huge impact on their lives. As Michael himself says: “Anything we can do to help and make sure that the same level of care I received is available to others, should they need it.”

Join the family and support London’s Air Ambulance’s Your London, Your Helicopter campaign to help the charity get a second emergency medical helicopter for London.  London’s Air Ambulance only exists thanks to the many generous Londoners who support the service through donations, corporate partnerships and other forms of charitable support.sticker for superimposing

Please donate now. Your donation will help get that much needed second helicopter into the sky.

Last Updated 03 July 2015