Your Golden Hour Donation Could Help Keep Families Together
Tomorrow, organisations around the country will be marking the end of the working week and National Air Ambulance Week drawing to a close by celebrating our Golden Hour Give an Hour TM campaign.
We are challenging businesses and employees to take part in Golden Hour and donate an hour’s profit or pay to Air Ambulances UK, to help support the 21 air ambulance charities across the UK.
Your Golden Hour of profit or pay will help charities like Midlands Air Ambulance Charity provide lifesaving care to families whose survival depends on air ambulance charities.
Family’s Fight for Survival
In May 2014, Kerrie was on her way to celebrate her birthday with her six-year-old son Lucas, one-year-old daughter Ava, husband Shane and father Thomas. The family’s car was stationary at a junction when a car hit them side on. Kerrie, her father and two children sustained severe injuries and were unconscious.
Due to the severity of the collision, a total of four air ambulances were called to the scene including: two Midlands Air Ambulance Charity helicopters, the Welsh Air Ambulance and the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance. Ava and Lucas were both airlifted to Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Critical care paramedic Steven Mitchell explained that “by land, the journey to Birmingham Children’s Hospital could have taken nearly two hours, so having the ability to fly the children to the best hospital for their injuries in less than that time would have made a hugely positive impact on their chances of recovery.”
Kerrie’s father Thomas was given emergency treatment at the scene for serious chest injuries and flown by Wales Air Ambulance to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Major Trauma Unit. Two days later Thomas was discharged from hospital. Kerrie’s husband Shane suffered a broken collarbone and cuts and bruising and was driven by land ambulance to Hereford County Hospital. Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance airlifted Kerrie to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Major Trauma Unit. Kerrie and her two children were placed in induced comas for seven days.
Lucas’s injuries included: a broken leg which was pinned and plated for 12 months, internal injuries to his organs and a long term brain injury. Ava’s injuries included: a punctured lung, a broken pubic bone and internal injuries. Kerrie suffered internal injuries, a broken pelvis which had to be permanently pinned and a brain injury which caused her to have no memory of the accident. Doctors could not reassure the family of Lucas and Kerrie’s survival because their injuries were so severe.
Incredibly, all members of the family survived and in April 2016 Kerrie gave birth to baby Alfie. Kerrie explained that: “Over three years later, Lucas still has to attend doctors’ appointments at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and I still have issues with my pelvis, but we have been through the worst so we can get through anything.”
Medical professionals at the scene expected fatalities. Kerrie and her family are testament to the remarkable work of UK air ambulance teams in providing critical lifesaving medical care at the scene of trauma incidents.
So why not get involved and donate an hour’s profit or pay to enable the UK’s 21 air ambulance charities to continue their amazing lifesaving missions? It’s easy to make your Golden Hour donation on our website https://www.airambulancesuk.org/goldenhour/
Your generosity has the power to help keep families together.
