Local businessman, Dr Terry Cross OBE, recently visited the headquarters of the charity Air Ambulance Northern Ireland (AANI) in Lisburn to meet with the team and to learn more about the vital service the air ambulance provides.

During the visit, the former Delta Packaging Chairman, Dr Terry Cross, donated £8,000 to the charity after hearing more from the team about the air ambulance which, since July 2017, has been tasked to over 526 emergencies across Northern Ireland, providing advanced pre-hospital critical care to patients.

The Charity, AANI, in partnership with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS), provides the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) for the region and responds to seriously ill or injured patients 12 hours a day, 7 days per week. The charity requires £5,500 per day to keep this vital service going, meaning £2million must be raised each year.

Dr Terry Cross OBE commented: “The Air Ambulance NI (AANI) provides an invaluable service to the residents of Northern Ireland. It is clear that the pre-hospital critical care that AANI can offer to patients in many cases can quite literally be the difference between life or death. The team’s dedication, commitment and enthusiasm is truly inspiring and I think they deliver an exceptional service which I’m delighted to be able to support.”

Dr Gerard O’Hare, AANI Trustee, said: “It is fantastic news that Dr Cross has decided to support the AANI charity in this way and we were delighted to welcome him to the base. To ensure the service is sustained, we need to raise £2million each year so all public support is vital. There are plenty of ways to get involved, whether that is organising a fundraising event, helping us to raise awareness about the charity or joining our new corporate members programme.