Pensioner who was rescued by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance which landed in the Piece Hall raises £14,263 for charity

On January 30 2020, Loraine Greenwood from Halifax was collecting items for a church coffee morning when she was involved in an accident involving a bus.

Due to the severity of her injuries, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance was dispatched.

As the aircraft requires a large landing space, the only place suitable in the town centre was the courtyard of Grade I listed 18th century building, the Piece Hall.

The YAA Critical Care Team made a decision to fly Loraine to Leeds General Infirmary and she spent 10 hours in an operating theatre undergoing reconstructive surgery on her leg.

Speaking of the incident, Loraine said: “I could have lost my leg or my life. I cannot thank the emergency services, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the doctors and nurses at the hospital enough for everything they have done for me. I’m so grateful that I have a life and I’ll do the best I can with it.”

To celebrate her 80th birthday, and raise vital funds for the charity that saved her life, Loraine and friends organised an eight mile walk, which set off from St Matthew’s Church in Northowram.

The money was raised through ticket sales, sponsorship, a raffle and a pie and pea supper after the event and cake stalls.

More than 52 people took part in the walk which took six months to organise and they all received a goody bag, including the dogs who were also given a doggy bag for taking part.

Event organizers Peter and Linda McCormick, said:” It was an amazing day. All the walkers were amazed by the route and very pleased with the event. I thought we would probably raise around £3,000 from the event, so to raise more than £14,000 is unbelievable. We’re blown away, it was a wonderful day and a great way to celebrate not only Loraine’s birthday, but raise money for such an important cause. We would like to thank everyone who supported the event.”

It costs £12,000 a day to keep both of Yorkshire’s air ambulances maintained and in the air and the money raised will help greatly towards the vital funding of our service. They have raised more than enough to keep us flying for a whole day which is amazing”