UK aeromedical charity Midlands Air Ambulance Charity has now attended more than 70,000 missions across Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, the West Midlands and Worcestershire.

The lifesaving pre-hospital emergency service started out with one temporary helicopter in 1991, and now operates a fleet of three air ambulance Airbus helicopters and three critical care cars across a six-county region. The charity has now surpassed its 70,000th mission and continues to make vital lifesaving missions every day.

The charity's 70,000th mission, was a young motorcyclist, aged just 17-years-old at the time, who had been involved in a road traffic collision. The youngster is making a good recovery despite still struggling with injuries sustained in the incident.

Kerry Hemus, patient liaison lead and critical care paramedic for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said: “Surpassing our 70,000th mission in our 32nd year of operation is a massive milestone for our team.

“When our service first started it was about getting the patient to the hospital quickly; fast forward to today and we now bring the hospital to our patients in terms of the interventions we can perform, coupled with the advanced medicines and hospital-level equipment we bring. In our 70,000th mission this certainly was the case, and we are glad to see the motorcyclist recovering well.

“Whilst we mark our milestone mission, I'd like to highlight our patient liaison service. Myself and my colleague, Rob Davies, are keen to speak to anyone who has received care from Midlands Air Ambulance Charity to support them with their ongoing recovery, and we also offer this service to loved ones too.”