The family of the late Dorothy Weir from Newry has generously donated £2,175 to Air Ambulance Northern Ireland, a contribution made in lieu of flowers following her passing.

Dorothy tragically suffered a cardiac arrest at her home on 23rd October 2024, which resulted in a fall down the stairs. Despite the swift arrival and tireless efforts of the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) team at Air Ambulance NI, along with their colleagues from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS), who managed to resuscitate her, she sadly passed away later in hospital. In recognition of the vital service provided by Air Ambulance NI, Dorothy’s family chose to honour her memory by supporting the charity that works tirelessly to save lives across Northern Ireland.

Dorothy’s children, Alison, Jennifer, and David, expressed their motivation for supporting the service:
“We wanted to support the air ambulance because, as a charity, they rely on public donations to keep them flying to patients and families like ours. Instead of having too many funeral flowers, we thought, why not raise funds in Mum’s memory to help a future patient or family going through a traumatic experience like we did.”

The donation was recently presented at the Air Ambulance NI base in Lisburn, where Dorothy’s family had the opportunity to meet Pilot Rich Steele and learn more about the lifesaving work carried out by the HEMS team.

In appreciation of the donation, Amy Henshaw, Area Fundraising Manager at Air Ambulance NI, commented,

“We are incredibly grateful to Dorothy’s family for their generous donation in her memory. Every contribution helps ensure that our team can continue to respond to serious medical emergencies, road traffic collisions, and farm and workplace accidents that, unfortunately, happen every single day.

It costs £6,850 each day to keep the HEMS service operational, and on average, we are tasked to two patients daily. Every mission depends on public fundraising and support, and it is particularly humbling when families, during their own time of grief, choose to support the service through donations in lieu of flowers. This thoughtful gesture will have a lasting impact in keeping the helicopter flying and ready to respond to emergencies whenever and wherever it’s needed.”

For further information about Air Ambulance NI or to learn how you can support this life-saving service, please visit www.airambulanceni.org.