In May 2016, I had first hand experience of how the East Anglian Air Ambulance service helps people in an emergency.  After a wonderful birthday party for my then 9-year-old daughter, we decided to toast marshmallows in the chimenea in the garden. Whilst everyone was inside, I stoked up the fire but just at that moment, a flaming ember came out from the fire and landed on a bottle of barbecue lighter fuel which was next to me.  A split second later the bottle exploded, and the flames wrapped round my body like a blanket.  I was on fire from the waist up to the top of my head.

Remembering my first aid training and that water does not
extinguisher a fuel fire, I had to put myself out by my hands and rolling on the ground.

To cut a long story short, the EAAA crew landed in a nearby field and I was airlifted to the Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford where I
stayed for 3 weeks with 17% burns. Having the air ambulance crew attend the accident ensured I reached a hospital a lot quicker than by regular ambulance.  And not just any hospital, the best hospital in Europe for dealing with burns victims.  It gave the helicopter medical staff the opportunity to choose where to take me for the best possible care for my injuries.

To say I have been lucky is an understatement but without the EAAA service, myself and a lot of other patients perhaps would not be in such a fortunate position to still be alive and to have survived.

It costs approx. £3,000 for every patient they rescue and the EAAA is not funded by the government; they solely rely on donations.

This is a service of unmeasurable value, please help me in
keeping this service going... someone you know might need it one day as I did and I am so glad it was there.