Graham is raising money for the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance.
Local great-grandfather Graham Brown has made an epic journey around Ireland to help his favourite local charity.
Retired body shop manager Graham, 65, from Moira in Derbyshire, is fundraising for the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance.
Graham left his home in Moira, Swadlincote, last Friday, and has been travelling clockwise around Ireland from Rosslare via Fishguard, through Cork and Kerry and up the west coast to Fanad, before arriving in Buncrana by ferry last Tuesday. He is continuing along the Northern Irish coast before returning home by ferry from Dublin.
He estimates he will have travelled 2,500 miles in 10 days, and is being closely followed along the way by his partner, Alison, 11 grandchildren and his great-grandchild via a WhatsApp chat group! He has already raised over £2,000 for the air ambulance charity.
Graham was himself rescued by air ambulance after he sustained several serious injuries, including a broken pelvis, following a motorcycle accident in September 2011. His partner, Alison, broke her back. Alison was sent to Newcross Hospital and transferred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, for spinal surgery.
On the morning of the accident, Graham was planning to go to Telford, 25 miles away, to see his Mum, and Alison suggested she would join him on the bike for the first time, never having tried it before.
“I was overtaking a Ford Mondeo which was doing about 40mph,” Graham said, “when we came level with a side road and a van came straight out”. He saw the Mondeo and thought he had time to get out, but he didn’t see me and then he just froze in the middle of the road.
I had nowhere to go because the Mondeo was on my left, the crash barrier was on the right and the van was in the middle. They suspected a ruptured spleen so I had to have an air ambulance, which took me to Newcross Hospital in Wolverhampton.
Graham was in hospital for four weeks. Alison went to Birmingham Hospital with a back injury and spent three weeks in hospital. They were cared for by Alison’s aunt and uncle for a month following the return home.
Recovery was “a long struggle” and Graham was off work for 12 months. They both found yoga a benefit, and Alison is now a yoga teacher.
My motivation is to give back to the Air Ambulance who rescued me. I experienced first-hand the vital work the Air Ambulance do when I was air lifted from the scene and taken to hospital much quicker than normal. I was able to get the prompt urgent care needed and so lived to tell the story, and now I wish to try and help this amazing organisation by riding my motorbike solo around Ireland, only stopping at the end of a day’s riding.
I’ve never been to Ireland before, and I’ve been overwhelmed not just with the donations but with the welcome I’ve had and the acts of kindness by strangers.
The Air Ambulance critical care teams attend an average five rescues a day giving the very best chance of survival and recovery. The charity receives no government funding for its daily missions. If you would like to make a donation, go to www.justgiving.com/page/graham-brown-1.