<p>Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.</p> <p>On 5th January 2010 our son, Sam Owen, was involved in a near fatal car&nbsp;accident when&nbsp;two young deer found their way onto the&nbsp;M6&nbsp; toll road&nbsp;in Birmingham.&nbsp;The Midlands Air Ambulance was scrambled and the decisions and actions of the crew, working in tandem alongside the other emergency services, ensured that against all odds,&nbsp;Sam&nbsp;had the&nbsp;best possible chance of&nbsp;survival.</p> <p>The flight from the scene of the accident to Selly Oak hospital was to be the start of a catalogue of good fortune for Sam that day. After a considerable amount of time spent being stabilised for surgery then&nbsp;the surgery itself, Sam was admitted into the intensive care unit where he,&nbsp;his family and friends&nbsp;rode the&nbsp;relentless ups and downs of recovery for&nbsp;five weeks. Sam eventually recovered well enough to leave intensive care and&nbsp;slowly but surely&nbsp;began his personal road to recovery. Two&nbsp;years on and&nbsp;although Sam will never be 100% well again, he has made wonderful progress and his life is getting closer and closer to 'normal' again.&nbsp;</p> <p>What still amazes us is that even now, when Sam&nbsp;sees a new doctor, they look&nbsp;at his notes and&nbsp;say "And how exactly are you still here?". It's a&nbsp;little unnerving for Sam,&nbsp;but, the answer quite simply is that he was fortunate to be on the receiving end of&nbsp;outstanding medical attention and support&nbsp;which&nbsp;all began with the arrival of the Midlands Air Ambulance, something for which we shall all be eternally grateful.</p> <p>Shockingly, air ambulance services&nbsp;in the UK&nbsp;are run entirely on donations and that is why, in April 2012 we, Sam's Mum and Dad (Ray and Joyce), shall walk&nbsp;a portion&nbsp;of the Grand Union Canal starting from&nbsp;ours and Sam's home town of Watford and finishing&nbsp;in Sam's current home and&nbsp;the location of his fantastic treatment after the accident, Birmingham.&nbsp;Sam now feels well enough to join us for part of&nbsp;the trip, hoping at least, to do some of the first and last day of walking&nbsp;and perhaps even walking a little each day&nbsp;if he feels well enough. Kate, James and baby Owen will also be joining us&nbsp;whenever they&nbsp;can.&nbsp;&nbsp;The&nbsp;trip will involve 7 days of walking&nbsp;between 10 - 21&nbsp;miles a day carrying everything we need on our backs and hopefully,&nbsp;bumping into some family, friends, colleagues and acquantainces along the way too. The first leg of the trip, from Watford to Marsworth,&nbsp;starts on the morning of15th April at the 'Ironbridge Lock' in Cassiobury Park and we&nbsp;aim to&nbsp;finish on the afternoon of 22nd April at&nbsp;'The Mailbox' canal terminus&nbsp;in central Birmingham.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>You can keep up with our progress on this page and hopefully&nbsp;you will be able to support our cause and help us to raise as much money as possible for the fantastic Midlands Air Ambulance service.&nbsp;</p> <p>Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving &ndash; they&rsquo;ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they&rsquo;ll send your money directly to&nbsp;Midland Air Ambulance&nbsp;and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it&rsquo;s the most efficient way to donate -&nbsp;we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.</p> <p>So please dig deep and donate now.</p> <p>Thank you Thank you Thank you</p> <p>The Owen's xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>