Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

A number of you who are reading my story may well have done so before and if so I would like to thank you again for visiting my latest fundraising page. For those who are reading my story for the first time, thank you for your interest.

What you may not be expecting here though is that in a moment of madness when watching ‘The Apprentice’ last year, I made a throwaway remark to my wife about the ‘treat’ that Lord Sugar had laid on for the team winning one of the tasks.

The treat was a freefall abseil from the top of Arcelormittal Orbit at the Olympic Park. I think I said something along the lines of  - “I bet that would be fantastic” 

I did not then however expect to be sat there on Christmas morning opening presents to find amongst them a picture of the sculpture with a date of 27^th June 2015 underneath it. Oh dear, my wife had booked me an abseiling experience

In an effort to not be tempted to back out of the experience,  I have decided to use it as an opportunity to raise funds for our company's chosen charity for 2015 the KSS Air Ambulance, a charity which is very close to my heart  The story below will tell you why.

On 27th January 2012 I was at work in the offices of my employer B&CE, Manor Royal, Crawley, I suffered a Cardiac Arrest. When I collapsed, my colleague, one of our trained first aiders, responded immediately and began CPR which she continued for 15 minutes before paramedics arrived who then took over. The Paramedics worked on me for a further 15 minutes and finally managed to get my heart started again. Up to that point, my heart had stopped beating for just over 30 minutes.

The Sussex Air Ambulance and HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Services) Team arrived and I was anaesthetised by the Doctor and Paramedics in the office before the Paramedics took me to Hospital in Brighton where I underwent an emergency angioplasty and stenting to re-open a major heart artery.

After being placed into an induced coma and being packed in ice, it was really just a waiting game for everyone. My family, who had had to travel the 5 hour journey down from York, were warned that I might not survive the night. Fortunately I did survive and 36 hours later I was brought out of the coma and amazingly I had not suffered any brain damage, despite being starved of oxygen for more than 30 minutes. After 4 days on the intensive care unit (ICU), I was released from hospital and actually walked off the ICU on my own two feet, although to be honest, I don’t really remember too much about it.

Fewer than 10% of people who suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital actually survive to leave hospital - I owe my life to everyone involved - my colleague, the paramedics and the KSS Air Ambulance and the HEMS team. It is all a chain of events and if it had not been for the Air Ambulance being available to deliver the specialist care I received I would not have been here today.

The Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance relies on charitable donations and without public support it simply could not operate its essential service to the public, and save lives across the region. Any donations you can make, no matter how small, can make a difference. Thank you for taking the time to visit my page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.