The family and friends of a courageous 94-year-old have raised over £6,500 to thank Yorkshire Air Ambulance for saving her life.
Rose Smiles suffered a head injury and severe leg injuries after being hit by a car while crossing the High Street, Knaresborough, last September.
She was airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary where surgeons had to amputate her left leg below the knee. Her right leg was also badly damaged and Rose is now wheelchair bound but her recovery has amazed medics.
And her large, grateful family have now come together to thank Yorkshire Air Ambulance for getting Maggie to specialist surgeons in time. They want to raise £12,000 – the amount it costs every day to keep Yorkshire’s two air ambulances flying.
Rose’s daughter Maggie Maltby from Knaresborough and two of her grandchildren, Ellie and Sarah Priest from Brighton, did a sponsored skydive in February and 17 family members and friends have just taken part in the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge.
Before her accident Rose walked into Knaresborough each day and local people have also been supporting the family’s fund raising drive by donating in Yorkshire Air Ambulance collection tins.
Ellie Priest, 29, said:
My Grandma is an incredible lady and a very special part of our family. She has been through so much and we are all so grateful to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance for what they did that day.
If it was not for them, Grandma Rose would not be here today. She would not have survived a road ambulance journey to hospital and that is why we wanted to come together as a family to do something positive and to say thank you.
Yorkshire Air Ambulance serves 5million people across Yorkshire and has carried more than 6,600 people in its 15-year history.
The charity has just placed an order for two, brand new state-of-the-art replacements for its current ageing aircraft – G-SASH and G-CEMS – that will take to the skies over Yorkshire later this year and in Spring 2017.
The latest generation Airbus H145 helicopters will give paramedics a much more modern medical fit-out to treat and transport often critically injured patients.
To support Rose’s family in their fundraising efforts go to www.justgiving.com/teams/grandmasmiles
