Dunstable woman urges public to support Air Ambulance service after they saved her husband's life

A woman from Dunstable is urging the public to support the East Anglian Air Ambulance’s charity walk after they saved her husband in a road traffic accident.

In 2019, Wendy Varney received a phone call from a police officer to say her husband, Steve, had been involved in a collision on his way to work. He was travelling at 50mph to 60mph when a driver pulled out in front of him, and the East Anglian Air Ambulance emergency brought the emergency department directly to the scene to give Steve the best chance of survival.

Wendy said: “I don’t remember much about that conversation, or the one that followed, other than ‘breathing difficulties … air ambulance … touch and go’.

“The Doctor and the Critical Care Paramedic put Steve into an induced coma on the side of the road. They put him on a ventilator because he could not breathe for himself. They put drains into his chest. They did all the things they needed to do to stop him from dying for long enough to get him to the hospital.”

Steve survived the incident, and now the two are volunteers for the East Anglian Air Ambulance. Wendy added: “Without the EAAA crew that day, Steve would not have met our two youngest grandchildren. Becoming a volunteer is our way of giving a little something back to the charity that gave everything back to us.”

Wendy is now encouraging the public to take part in Trek24, a long-distance charity walk taking place across East Anglia. The air ambulance service relies almost entirely on the support of the public to fund their life-saving missions, which cost an average of £3,750.

The Bedfordshire walk will take place on Saturday (April 27) at Barton Hill Farm, LU2 8NF. Participants on the 24-mile or 24km hike high up into the Chilterns will pass through the countryside while raising money and awareness for the charity.

Visit the East Anglian Air Ambulance website to find out more about how you can get involved.