While honing his skills, Thomas came off the bike and suffered a severe accident that left him with multiple critical injuries and needing emergency life-saving care. Thomas credits his survival to the swift response and exceptional care provided by the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) Team on board the air ambulance, whose timely intervention and transportation to Royal Victoria Hospital were instrumental in saving his life.

Reflecting on the accident, Thomas said, “I had a bad motorcross accident in May 2023, with a lot of damage, broke my neck in 4 places, suffered a brain injury, damage to my liver and bowel and was in a coma for 36 days. I don’t remember anything from the accident, and the team put me into an induced coma to save my life. If it wasn’t for the air ambulance that day, I don’t think I would still be here today. I am still in recovery, which is going well, nearly feeling back to myself again, and I am back at work, but still have a long way to go. I just want to say a massive thank you to the air ambulance and the team for everything they have done.”

Motivated by gratitude and determination, Thomas undertook a remarkable feat in January 2024, less than a year after his life-altering accident, completing a 12-mile walk around Banagher Glen, Dungiven, and was warmly welcomed to the airbase to meet the team and celebrate his achievements.

Continuing,

“It may be surprising that the HEMS has been called out on over 5,000 incidents since the service started in 2017.  Every flight to a critically injured patient is only possible with support from the public.”

“We hope Thomas’ experience inspires the community to support the charity. We have lots of challenges on offer, including walks, runs, abseils and skydives! Or if you’d rather, simply set up a direct debit to the charity as a regular donor. All support powers the aircraft to the next patient, which could be any one of us.”