A Hertfordshire family has thanked the live-saving Essex & Herts Air Ambulance service after a father suffered an unexpected seizure and brain injury.

Andrew Bord experienced first-hand the life-saving work that EHAAT provides. He was taking a shower when he blacked out, fell and had a seizure.

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Nobody knows if the seizure was because he banged his head, or whether his seizure began as he lost consciousness.

When the EHAAT arrived, they quickly identified that they had to treat the large wound on Andrew’s head and give him a pre-hospital anaesthetic in order to take over his breathing. This would start the process of reducing his brain injury and prevent, as best as possible, any further harm.

Once stabilised, Andrew was airlifted to a specialist hospital, The Royal London, which only took six minutes in the helicopter, while wife Emma went in a blue lighted police car which took nearly an hour.

Andrew’s wife Emma said: “Essex & Herts Air Ambulance is an utterly amazing service, and I am so thankful to them for saving my husband’s life.

"I can’t thank them enough for everything. The doctors on the helicopter, the speed of their work and the decisions they made were simply amazing.”

Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT) works side-by-side with publicly funded ‘blue light’ services such as the police, fire and ambulance services.

Yet unlike them, EHAAT is a charity which receives little direct funding from central government and none from the National Lottery.

It costs over £750,000 every month to keep the service operational. This would not be possible without the generosity and goodwill of the people and businesses of Hertfordshire, Essex and the surrounding areas.

In 2021 EHAAT attended over 2,000 life-saving missions across Hertfordshire and Essex, forming an important part of the emergency services supporting the NHS. Every penny matters as each mission costs on average around £2,200.

Emma Barker, head of income generation for EHAAT said: “There are many different ways people can get involved throughout 2022 and support their local life-saving charity.

"From volunteering their time, playing our lottery or entering one of our raffles, giving a regular donation or leaving a gift in their will, through to taking part in one of our treks, running or our extremely popular motorcycle events or hosting an afternoon tea, there is something for everyone.

"Visit our website www.ehaat.org to see more ways how to get involved and you can support your local life-saving charity.”