Great North Air Ambulance Service

A woman who was at risk of losing her foot after a fall on ice, has just completed a self-powered adventure ‘triathlon’ across England, Scotland and Wales.

Claire Hughes, 44, from Wylam, has spent her life engaging in several outdoor activities, and at the end of April she travelled across the three nations by packraft, bike and on foot, incorporating the longest lake and biggest mountain in each and cycling between them.

She’s raised more than £7,500 (including Gift Aid) for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), after she required their help following a fall in the Pennines.

In November 2021, Miss Hughes and her partner James Mackay were walking in icy conditions around the Blanchland area in Northumberland, in the aftermath of Storm Arwen when she slipped.

Due to the ice and snow, it would have taken several hours for a road ambulance to reach Miss Hughes, so GNAAS was called, and their critical care team based in Langwathby, Penrith flew to the scene in just over 15 minutes.

The team found Miss Hughes to be at severe risk of losing her foot and developing hypothermia in the -20C wind-chill conditions.

As both of the bones in Miss Hughes’ leg were broken, as well as her ankle pointing in the wrong direction, emergency treatment was delivered in a temporary shelter at the scene to help with the blood supply to the foot.

Miss Hughes was then airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, where she underwent surgery to treat breaks on the three main bones of her ankle.

She explained: “They said the air ambulance guys had done such a fantastic job of pulling my ankle straight they did me some major favours in terms of recovery.”

Thankfully Miss Hughes has recovered well and on 19 April she embarked on a self-powered triathlon across the UK raising money for GNAAS.

She said: “It was so exciting to undertake something which others could actively feel a part of.

“There was the tracker for 'dot watching', or folk could pop by and watch me come past or I even had a few friends who joined for short sections such as a section of a bike ride or to climb a hill.

“The kindness of strangers really blew me away as well - when I did stay on campsites, all insisted on any fee going to my fundraising instead; a lady I had never met before paddled out to meet me for a section of my longest paddle with strawberries and lovely company for a couple of hours; another lady was waiting outside her house with a pint of iced water as she thought I’d need it after cycling up the hill near her house.

“I know I love the outdoors and would be happy being completely outside for a week but the human element to the challenge was an unanticipated joy.”

Miss Hughes’ challenge started in Wales, where she paddled Llyn Tegid (Lake Bala), cycled to Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and hiked Snowdon. She then cycled to Newby Bridge, paddled Windermere, cycled to Langdale and hiked Scafell in the Lake District.

For the final section Miss Hughes cycled to Loch Awe and paddled across it, cycled to Ben Nevis and finished with a hike up to the top of Ben Nevis on 27 April.

She said: “The finish was amazing. I feel quite emotional still thinking about it. The camera crew and my best friend joined me for the Carn Mor Dearg Arrete which links in to Ben Nevis from the north and is just a lovely route.

“We had all the weather from sunshine to heavy snow but when I eventually crawled on to the summit, more lovely friends were there waiting on an otherwise empty but sunny summit. It was a fabulous way to finish - lots of laughs, photos and incredible views. We then all went out for a curry and I pretty much fell asleep in my main course.”

In total she paddled 76.6km, cycled 903.32km and walked 45.5km and has raised more than £6,000 for GNAAS, before Gift Aid is added.

She said: “My watch got notifications every time an email from my fundraising page dropped - it was such an incredible boost to get those notifications whilst I was slogging through the miles and did genuinely help spur me on through some difficult times.

“We are also making a short film of the challenge which will be ready later in the year so I am hoping that might help continue to raise a little more money for GNAAS off the back of this challenge.”

You can sponsor Miss Hughes via her JustGiving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/claire-hughes-1689324407825

GNAAS needs to raise £8.5m a year to remain operational. To find out more about how you can support the charity visit: gna.as/fund247

About GNAAS

• The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is a charitably funded air ambulance service which provides life-saving care throughout the North East, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Isle of Man.
  
• They operate two helicopters 365 days a year and also operate a night-time service in the North East and Cumbria on rapid response vehicles.
  
  
• The aircraft cover an area of more than 8,000 square miles and on board are specialist doctors and paramedics who effectively bring the hospital to the patient.
  
  
• The level of skill and expertise of the on-board team mean they respond to the most critically ill and injured people, giving them the best chance of survival.
  
  
• GNAAS is a progressive organisation which has pioneered pre-hospital care in the region.
  
• The latest techniques, equipment and drugs are constantly being evaluated to ensure the charity can provide the best care possible for their patients.
  
  
• 2022 marked the service providing 20 years of life-saving care. Throughout this time, they have responded to more than 23,500 incidents across the region, with road traffic collisions being the most frequent type of incident responded to by the team.
  
  
• They do not receive Government funding and must therefore raise £8.5m a year through public donations to remain operational.

For more information visit: https://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk/ or follow @gnairambulance on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok

For press enquiries please email media@gnaas.com or call 07554453494