Great North Air Ambulance Service

A charity walk in memory of a beloved springer spaniel called Max has raised more than £51,000 for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS).

Max, who sadly passed away in April last year, would have celebrated his 16^th birthday on 12 August.

To honour his memory, Max’s owner Kerry Irving, from Keswick, invited hundreds of people to join him on a walk to Tewet Tarn which was one of Max’s favourite places.

Among those taking part in the walk, which is called Brew for Moo, was Grace Gardiner, 16, whose life was saved by the critical care team at GNAAS when she was only four months old.

In February 2007, Grace had a Meckel’s diverticulum with intussusception which is a blockage in her bowel.

Her mother Helen Gardiner had driven Grace from their home in Penrith to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, however after arriving at the hospital, Grace’s health became progressively worse, and she needed to go to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle for treatment.

Unfortunately, there were no viable options available to transfer Grace due to how critically ill she was, but by chance the team from GNAAS were at the same hospital, so they offered to airlift her.

Grace has since made a full recovery and 16 years later the mother and daughter shared their story with Mr Irving, a charity ambassador for GNAAS, on his Facebook page called Max Out in the Lake District.

Mr Irving broadcasts his daily walks with his springer spaniels live on Facebook and has used his platform to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity.

They joined Mr Irving on his most recent charity walk and Grace generously donated the tips she earned from her job to support GNAAS, which was £300.

Mrs Gardiner said: “Grace has obviously been aware of GNAAS all her life but her decision to donate her tips, from the Clickham Inn, was a very personal one.

“If it hadn't had been for the air ambulance, she just wouldn't be here.”

Despite the rain, there was a large turnout at Brew for Moo, and the critical care team from GNAAS landed their aircraft at the event to greet the walkers, including GNAAS paramedic Lee Salmon who treated Grace when she was just a baby.

Mr Irving said: “We had a fantastic day and the funds we’ve all raised together in memory of Max is incredible and far exceeded what I was expecting.

“The weather didn’t detract from our dog walk, and it was great to see so many happy smiling faces and happy dogs enjoying the outdoors and making new friends.

“Thank you so much to everyone who supported the event through ticket sales and donations, in total we’ve raised more than £51,000.

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 £7.7m a year through public donations to remain operational.

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