Starting on Monday 18 May 2026, I’m taking on the challenge of walking 5 marathons in 5 consecutive days; starting at the Rochester HQ of Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS), via Tunbridge Wells, Brighton, Crawley, and finishing at the KSS Redhill base on Friday 22 May. Please support if you can to raise livesaving funds.

Not only am I extremely proud to be the Head of KSS in Your Community at Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS), I am also a former patient and without their amazing service I simply would not be alive today and my two boys would not have a dad. This challenge will mark my 10th anniversary year of being a survivor and of our air ambulance service giving my two boys the gift of still having a Dad.

10 years ago my life changed forever.

It was Father’s Day, 2016. I was due to hop on a train up to London with my wife and two boys, to see the movie premier of ‘The Secret Life of Pets’. We were invited as at the time I worked in the TV and film business and this was going to be a special treat for the kids.

Our train wasn’t due for another hour, so thought I’d go out for a quick ride on my Vespa whilst the family finished getting ready. But I ended up not returning home for another nine weeks – not quite the Father’s Day I’d planned.

I was riding my Vespa down a single-track country lane in Marden, when I collided head-on with a car on a blind bend with high hedgerows. I went one way and my scooter went the other.

Lying on my back on the tarmac, I could see my Vespa on its side. I don't remember feeling any pain, it felt more like was just winded; if anything, I felt quite comfortable and like I just needed to rest in the position for a while.

I do remember that it was very hot with the midday sun shining down on me. A group of cyclists had gathered round me, and I was holding onto one of the cyclist’s ankles, I guess for human contact. I asked them to remove my helmet, loosen my clothing and pour water, from their drinking bottles onto my face to cool me down.

I remember two people in red beginning to speak to me, who I later learnt were Paramedic Craig Prentice and Doctor Leonieke Vlaanderen from Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS).

They’d arrived in their rapid response vehicle and had radioed through to Captain Blaine Ashurst to ready the helicopter. They’d performed a thoracostomy on the roadside, to reinflate, and drain blood, from my lungs and had given me anaesthetic too. Once I arrived at the air ambulance base, I was worked on further by the team in the hangar as an attempt to get me stabilised.

I was then air lifted to King's College Hospital where the hospital team spent three hours resuscitating me and gave me a total of nine pints of blood.

Amanda, my wife, was told not to get her hopes up after it was established that I’d sustained nine broken ribs, a double hemothorax/pneumothorax (which means I had a collection of blood in the space between my chest wall and collapsed lungs), and a lacerated spleen, kidney and liver. My ribs were rebuilt using titanium plates and I had a further seven operations. I spent nine weeks in hospital in total.

Fast forward 10 years and who would have believed that a decision to go for a quick ride out would lead to a complete career change to work along side colleagues who saved my life. Everyday is a pinch me moment.

It cost around £57,000 a day to operate this 24/7, 365, lifesaving air ambulance service, which many don't realise is a charity, not part of the NHS, and it is thanks to the generosity of the public that KSS can operate and deliver lifesaving care to its patients when they need it most.

The KSS helicopters are flying emergency rooms. When there’s a life-or-death call, they bring specialised doctors, paramedics, and treatment to the scene, whether that be at the home, at the roadside, in a field or on the beach.

Thanks for the support and love.

Warren x