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Bristol family support air ambulance in honour of loved ones

Thursday, March 19, 2009, 07:00

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The family of a man who died after a crash on the M5 have donated £500 to the Bristol air ambulance charity.

Michael Brookman was repairing a lorry on the hard shoulder near Falfield five years ago when a transporter crashed into him.

Mr Brookman, who was 49, was airlifted to Frenchay Hospital but later died of his injuries.

His parents have donated money to the Gloucestershire Air Ambulance on his birthday and the anniversary of his death ever since.

But when his father Royston died recently, his mum and sister felt it would be fitting to give money to the new local helicopter service in both of their memories.

Gwendoline Brookman, 80, of Southmead, and her daughter Christina Carr, of Chipping Sodbury, paid a visit to the Filton base of the Great Western Air Ambulance (GWAA) on Wednesday and found out more about their work.

GWAA was formed last June to provide the first dedicated helicopter service in the former Avon area.

The unit flies specialist paramedics and emergency doctors to incidents to provide care at the scene.

The additional skills of the GWAA team mean that once a patient is ready to be transported to hospital they can be sent to the place most suited to their injuries or condition.

They rely on donations and fundraising and need to raise more than £1 million a year.

Mrs Carr, 55, a staff nurse with the National Blood Service, said: "Mum and Dad have sent money up to Gloucester ever since.

"Once we were made aware of this air ambulance service closer to home we thought we would help them.

"Just after dad died we heard that Great Western were going for a smaller helicopter and thought it was a sign that we should help the charity and we're going to be supporting this service from now on.

"It is something that is so necessary. You don't know what is around the corner and who will need to use the service next. I think Dad will be looking down on us in approval."

Chief executive of the GWAA charity, Paul Weir, said: "We are desperate for donations to keep us flying and every single penny helps. While these are very sad circumstances, Christina and Gwendoline's support will help us to help others."

 

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airambulancepics
The Evening Post has joined forces with the Great Western Air Ambulance to help them raise the more than one million they need each year to keep their helicopter flying.
The service flies a crew of doctors and specialist paramedics to emergencies to provide A&E standard care at the scene, helping save lives and minimise the possibility of more serious injury.
They can stabilise patients and help them breathe and in the most serious cases can anaesthetise people and carry out other emergency procedures while they are still in their home, on the roadside or sports pitch.
Patients are then transported to the most appropriate hospital for their injuries rather than the nearest because the initial preparation has already been carried out at the scene.
It also enables a casualty to be taken straight into the operating theatre, scanner or intensive treatment unit when they arrive at the A&E rather than waiting to be prepared.
Great Western Air Ambulance was launched in June and has already been called to more than 200 incidents and helped save lives but other than the salaries of the paramedics who fly as part of the crew, there is no NHS funding for the service and the team relies on its own dedicated charity and the goodwill of the public to raise the funding needed each year.
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