Support EAAA this Christmas

East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) has launched the Gift of Life campaign to help its crews be there for someone in their darkest hour this Christmas. To date, the charity has treated over 20,000 patients and needs support from the public to keep flying and keep saving lives. Like their emergency services colleagues, the EAAA teams will be working around the clock over the festive period to provide critical care pre-hospital, 24 hours day. At the heart of the Gift of Life campaign is fifty-oneyear-old Mark Drury who needed the advanced care of the air ambulance team last year when he suffered a cardiac arrest in the middle of the night. Mark had no prior health concerns or warning signs, but at about 1:30am that night his wife, Melanie, sensed

him stirring unusually in his sleep. She turned on the bedside light to see Mark’s ears and lips turning blue. His heart had stopped and he was in cardiac arrest. Melanie called 999 and pulled Mark off the bed – using strength she didn’t know she had – to start CPR on their bedroom floor. An ambulance quickly arrived and were able to restart Mark’s heart with a shock from a defibrillator, but he became extremely agitated. The ambulance team requested support from EAAA as Mark was in a difficult and combative state, needing enhanced care in order to transport him safely to hospital and prevent another cardiac arrest. EAAA provide life-saving critical care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and need to raise 15 million a year to deliver and develop the service. Ways to support EAAA this Christmas • Order your EAAA Christmas cards by 10 December • Send a message for the crew to read on Christmas Day • Buy a virtual gift, such as a blizzard blanket, to help keep EAAA’s patients warm • Light up your house in aid of EAAA • Donate to the Gift of Life campaign • Join the EAAA weekly lottery A donation of £42 to the Gift of Life campaign could help to buy a breathing mask used to treat Mark during his cardiac arrest and help EAAA to save more lives. For more info go to www.eaaa.org.uk/giftoflife To advertise in The Villager and Town Life please call 01767 261122

17