Air Ambulance Northern Ireland is the designated charity for the Moy Park Belfast City Marathon on 5th May. The Patterson family from Newry are taking part in this year’s relay event by entering not one but two wonderful teams, supporting both Chest, Heart & Stroke and Air Ambulance NI. Running in one of those relay teams is Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) patient William Patterson. William and his family wanted to take part and support the charity involved in HEMS, after one day finding themselves in need of the critical service.
On the 17th April 2021, William was involved in a road traffic collision while on his motorcycle, just outside of Newry. William doesn’t remember much of what happened after the collision, however, was later told that his motorcycle landed on top of him and that the air ambulance had been dispatched. Due to his serious injuries which included a brain injury and multiple fractures, the HEMS team placed William into an induced coma at scene. After years of recovery, William is now back running the pavements, in support of the medical crew who attended him that day.
William’s brother Marshall and sister-in-law Joanne remarked, ‘We are in no doubt, had it not been for the speed and expertise of the air ambulance medics, the outcome for William would have been very different! We are forever grateful to the service and are in awe of the team and just want to do our bit to support the charity to help saves further lives.’
Amy Henshaw, Area Fundraising Manager for the charity commented, ‘Unfortunately William faced a very traumatic experience, however, is now using his journey as a source of inspiration for those around him. We are extremely grateful to him and his family for taking on the relay, which will allow the helicopter and medical team to continue to reach and deliver critical care to a future patient. Whilst none of us know who that will be, we are sincerely thankful to them all for supporting their local air ambulance and helping to save lives.’
If you wish to support William and his family in their relay challenge for Air Ambulance NI, you can visit their online giving page: https://eventmaster.ie/fundraising/pages/JP33859012/
It’s not late to sign up for this year’s event! But there are limited spaces left for the Moy Park Belfast City Marathon 8-mile walk!
Amy added, ‘We are encouraging our supporters to get involved and register a few friends, family or co-workers to walk the first 8 miles of the marathon route. When you register you will have the option to support Air Ambulance NI. Please tick the box and we will be in touch with your digital fundraising pack and your invitation to the helicopter airbase so you can personally see the service you are challenging yourself for and supporting. We encourage all our participants to set up an eventmaster online page to maximise fundraising for your air ambulance. It could save a life!”
Register now for the 8-Mile Walk at https://belfastcitymarathon.com/
Pictured L-R: Marshall Patterson, William Patterson and Joanne Patterson preparing to take on the relay challenge for charity.