On the 15th of October, I’ll be taking part in the York Marathon. It’ll be almost a year to the day that I lost my dad. He was a big fan of athletics, and his memory has been the driving force behind my training and absolute determination to cross the finish line and make him proud.

I’ve chosen to support SARS the Suffolk Accident Rescue Service. I’ve decided to support SARS for two key reasons: the SARS team were able to provide assistance to my dad in the last few years of his life and alongside his day job as a critical care paramedic for Cambridge Air Ambulance, I’m very proud that my younger brother, Joe, is a volunteer critical care paramedic with SARS.

SARS provide specialist volunteer responders to assist the East of England Ambulance Service at the scenes of serious medical emergencies or trauma.

Their clinical resource consists of a network of solo responders and mobile critical care teams who can respond to incidents across Suffolk and its adjacent counties.

SARS is mobilised via the EEAST critical care desk, which monitors incoming 999 calls to the region. SARS responders include anaesthetists, critical care paramedics and other clinicians with enhanced prehospital skills. These clinicians are authorised to carry specialist drugs and additional life-saving equipment not found on frontline ambulances. This means that SARS clinicians can provide an additional and advanced level of patient care that would not normally be available outside the hospital environment.

This can help save lives, reduce the chances of patients suffering permanent disability and provide relief from extreme pain. As their clinicians live locally, it also means that they can be on scene before any other medical resource - a speed of response which can be vital for time-critical patients.

Any donations would be gratefully received and would support the vital work of this charity.

Thank you.