A WEST WALES man has spoken out about the lifesaving care he received from the Welsh Air Ambulance after a terrifying accident at his home. Chris Heyns, who works for Utility Warehouse, shared his story in hopes of highlighting the vital service provided by the air ambulance team.

On 21st July, Mr Heyns, from Bridgend, suffered a serious accident when he fell from the roof of his garage, landing on the concrete floor below. The fall left him unconscious and, upon regaining consciousness, he was in excruciating pain. It was later revealed that he had shattered two vertebrae and sustained a bleed on the brain.

“My wife called 999, but unfortunately, the nearest ambulance wouldn’t arrive for around 80 minutes,” Mr Heyns recalled. “However, just five minutes later, she received a call saying the air ambulance would be with me in 15 minutes.”

The Welsh Air Ambulance team arrived swiftly and provided Mr Heyns with much-needed pain relief, helping to ease his suffering. His wife described the crew as “amazing and so professional” in their handling of the situation.

Mr Heyns was airlifted to Cardiff University Hospital, where he underwent spinal surgery the following day. After spending three weeks in hospital, he is now recovering at home, though he acknowledges that the road to full recovery will take time.

Reflecting on the ordeal, Mr Heyns expressed his deep gratitude for the air ambulance service. “I could not imagine what my wife and I would have had to endure if the Welsh Air Ambulance team hadn’t arrived so swiftly,” he said.

Although Mr Heyns admits that he had never previously donated to the air ambulance, his experience has prompted him to take action. “After my ordeal, I’m pledging to raise money next year to truly say a huge thank you for being there for all of us in times of need.”

Mr Heyns’ story serves as a powerful reminder of the critical role played by the Welsh Air Ambulance in saving lives across the region, often in the most challenging of circumstances.

The Welsh Air Ambulance Charity operates four helicopters, which are on standby 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, covering every corner of Wales. Each year, the service responds to approximately 3,500 missions, delivering advanced critical care to those in dire need, whether in remote rural areas, busy urban centres, or on major roads. The helicopters are equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment, and the highly skilled crews include critical care practitioners, paramedics, and consultants.

Since its inception in 2001, the Welsh Air Ambulance has saved countless lives, providing a lifeline for patients who might otherwise face long waits for emergency treatment. The charity relies entirely on public donations to keep flying, with each mission costing an average of £1,500.

For many, like Mr Heyns, the Welsh Air Ambulance is not just a service but a literal lifesaver, making it an essential part of the emergency medical landscape in Wales. As Mr Heyns prepares to raise funds to support the charity, his story highlights the importance of sustaining this vital service for the benefit of all.

BOTH of Tenby’s lifeboats were launched at 5.40pm on Friday (Aug 30) after a report that a child was missing on Tenby’s South beach, having last been seen in the sea.

The volunteer crew were quickly on scene and were tasked to perform shoreline searches from Castle beach, up towards Giltar, with RNLI lifeguards searching from the shore. The Y-boat was also launched from the Haydn Miller with two crew aboard to provide an extra asset for the search.

Within minutes of being launched, the crew of the Y-boat located the missing child swimming close in to the shore on South beach. He was taken into the care of the lifeguards, before being returned to his relieved family.

The lifeboats were then stood down to return to station, arriving at 6.05pm

AS the RNLI celebrates 200 years of lifesaving service Fishguard RNLI celebrates its own milestone of 30 years of Blue Peter VII saving lives on the North Pembrokeshire coast.

Monday 2 September 2024 marks the 30^th anniversary of the all weather Trent class lifeboat Blue Peter VII being placed on service at RNLI Fishguard.

Chosen as the replacement for the station’s all weather Arun class lifeboat Marie Winstone, the smaller Blue Peter VII was the charity’s most modern purpose-built class of lifeboat within the fleet at the time, and other than a few periods away for essential maintenance and refit has spent the majority of 30 years saving lives and helping those in distress at sea off the coast of North Pembrokeshire.

In 1993 the BBC children’s television programme Blue Peter ran the ‘Pieces of Eight’ appeal. Children and families across the country gathered all sorts of items which could be sold to raise funds to replace the charity’s existing inshore lifeboats Blue Peter I to VI. Not only did they raise enough money to cover these lifeboats into the 21^st century, they also had enough left over to fund the first, and to date only all weather lifeboat to carry the Blue Peter name, and the iconic ship emblem.

The Trent class all weather lifeboats were introduced into the charity’s lifesaving fleet at a cost of approximately £1 million each and were named after the River Trent in England. They are primarily fitted with two 860hp MAN diesel engines which produce a top speed of 25 knots, and carry sufficient fuel to cover a range of 250 nautical miles.

At 14 metres long, all Trent class lifeboats are identifiable by the operational number beginning with 14 on the hull. The second part of this number indicates the order in which they were built.

Blue Peter VII bears the operational number 14-03, indicating that it was the third of the class to be built, however it was placed on station before 14-02 in Ramsgate, making it the longest serving Trent in the fleet with 14-01 having been retired in 2019.

With over 30 years of service, Fishguard’s lifeboat is older than some of today’s crew. Indeed over the years, those crewing Blue Peter VII have changed as crew members come and go. However, some such as volunteer brothers coxswain Chris Bean and crew member Warren Bean (also a current ILB helm) and former full time station mechanic Stephen Phillips were serving crew on its arrival and are still volunteer crew today.

Former station mechanic and current volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager Chris Williams said: ‘When the Blue Peter VII lifeboat came to Fishguard she was very much at the cutting edge of SAR technology. With one of the first computerised navigation systems and a top speed of 25kts (or 28.5 mph), she was one of the most up to date and capable all weather lifeboats in the world. Thirty years on, the rest of the RNLI fleet has caught up, but she is still a very capable, and above all, safe, boat, and, approaching a 1,000 “shouts” later, still doing the job she was designed to do.

Full time station coxswain Gemma Gill, said: ‘It’s an enormous honour to be trusted to be in command of an RNLI search and rescue asset, keeping the boat and crew safe, and hopefully saving the life of a casualty too.

For me it’s an additional honour to be in command of a Blue Peter craft. I’m from the East Lothian town of North Berwick, and as a child I was an avid watcher of Blue Peter, taking part in all the appeals and being proud of seeing my efforts playing a tiny part in the purchase of lifeboats.

In 1994 I watched the naming ceremony of Blue Peter III (D-452) and decided that one day I would be a lifeboat crew member too! That journey started in June 2001 with my initial induction trip and training aboard that very D class and continued with many years of volunteering in Aberystwyth aboard the 75, then 85 and Arancia, the Wales and West flood team,  (where I finally got a Blue Peter badge!), and then on into employment as a lifeboat trainer in the college in Poole. I hope to safely see out the rest of Blue Peter VII service life here in Fishguard, and I hope that any girls or boys who hear about lifeboating through Blue Peter will also be inspired to volunteer once they are old enough.’