Kent charity crowdfunds to buy helicopter

KentOnline / KMTV

Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex spends hundreds of thousands of pounds leasing their helicopter. But buying the aircraft could mean more lives are saved and more money could go towards their aftercare services for patients and families.

Transcript

00:00 A race against time, lives on the line.

00:03 Air Ambulance charity Kent Surrey Sussex currently spends nearly half a million pounds leasing

00:10 their second helicopter, which responds to some of the most serious medical emergencies

00:16 in the county.

00:17 Now KSS have a chance to buy the air ambulance for themselves, allowing them to fly for longer

00:23 and reach more people in need.

00:26 The catch? They only have until the end of May to raise the funds.

00:31 So the really important thing about raising the million pounds before the end of May is

00:34 that every month that goes by we're not making the savings that we will make when we own

00:39 our own helicopter, so the sooner we can do it the better.

00:43 Ultimately if we're not able to buy our own helicopter it means that we won't be able

00:47 to expand the number of hours that we're flying and it means that we won't be able to continue

00:51 to grow all the other initiatives like being able to fly longer term in more challenging

00:56 weather conditions or be able to grow the service that supports patients on their journey

01:01 through rehabilitation and recovery.

01:03 It was in 2020 that Giles Phillips suffered a life threatening tear in the main artery

01:09 leading from his heart. Without KSS he wouldn't be here.

01:14 I was in good health and suddenly just my life took a change that morning and it was

01:20 totally unexpected and I think that's the big thing, you don't know what's around the

01:23 corner and they saved my life. There's no way around about it. I would not be here now

01:28 having this conversation if it wasn't for them. They very much saved my life and it's

01:34 really important they get the money to get this extra helicopter so that they can save

01:38 more people.

01:40 For the Rhenum couple the same aftercare that is facing financial pressure due to the ambulance

01:44 lease was crucial for getting their lives back on track.

01:49 I think we could have just become quite unstuck really. I think we didn't have anywhere to

01:53 put our trauma and our emotions and our worries and anxieties and it was very difficult, the

02:02 memories from what actually happened. And they've been able to, I think Giles used the

02:08 word this morning, normalise a little bit about what happened and make it feel less

02:13 surreal and make it feel more, well this did happen and actually this is how we can recover

02:18 from that.

02:19 With just two months to go to secure the money they need, for KSS the cost of saving lives

02:25 has never been more apparent.

02:27 Oliver Lewis of the Saks 4 KNTV in Rochester.

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