A husband has hailed the air ambulance service after his wife was rushed to hospital in an emergency flight for urgent life-saving treatment.
Gary Restall’s partner, Valerie, suffered a devastating bleed on the brain and was at King’s College Hospital in London just 14 minutes after take off.
She remains seriously ill following emergency surgery but Gary, 65, believes her life was saved by the swift treatment.
He has now launched a fundraising appeal for the charity.
The carpenter and joiner from Stodmarsh Road, Canterbury, says Valerie, 66, woke up struggling to breathe and had a severe headache, which prompted him to call 999.
“Fortunately, a paramedic was with us within little more than five minutes, followed by an ambulance and it was quickly assessed that she needed urgent life-saving treatment,” he said.
“It took them just 14 minutes to get her to King’s, although several hours for us by car.
“They took her straight into theatre for surgery for a serious bleed on the brain.
“She is still in intensive care and not out of the woods but opened her eyes for the first time on Monday which was magical to see.”
Gary says the family are still in shock by the sudden turn of events.
He added: “It happened two weeks ago out of the blue and we are just so grateful to the emergency services and especially the air ambulance, which she likely would not have survived without.”
The couple have been married for 20 years and have two daughters each from previous relationships and five grandchildren.
“Valerie is an accountant and we were both looking forward to retirement next year but I’m not sure what the future holds for us now or the outlook for Valerie,” said Gary.
“All I know is that we want to thank the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance for giving us a chance and we owe them a massive debt of gratitude, because what happened to us could happen to anyone.
“We often see someone collecting for the air ambulance and [people], like me, walk on by.
“But my eyes have been opened and I would like to help the service in any way I can.
“This time it was my wife, Valerie who has been given the chance of life. Tomorrow it will be some else’s loved one.”
Gary’s GoFundMe appeal has a target of £1,100 and has already raised more than £700.
It costs almost £19 million a year to keep the KSS Air Ambulance service airborne, of which the vast majority is raised through public donations and fundraising.
For more information go to www.aakss.org.uk/about-us.
