I’m living proof air ambulance is vital

The Gazette has teamed up with Essex Air Ambulance for our Christmas campaign this year, and we are trying to raise as much as possible for the vital charity.

Jordan White, 19, from Rowhedge, knows first hand how important the service is.

In April 2013 he was free running, a high adrenalin street sport where people run and jump over buildings and obstacles, when he fell 30ft through the roof of an abandoned warehouse.

He injured his skull, face, ribs, pelvis and lower back. His lung was punctured and he was in a coma.

The air ambulance was called to the scene and took him to the intensive care unit at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridgeshire.

He was put into an induced coma for a month to help his body recover and underwent a number of operations. He had to have a tracheotomy to help him breath.

When he came around, he could not walk or talk and could not remember anything.

Jordan, who was 17 at the time of his accident, believes the air ambulance saved his life.

He said: “If the air ambulance didn’t exist I probably would be dead.

“If it was just an ambulance that came it would have taken a lot longer to get to Cambridge.

“It is a good charity. I think it should be funded by the Government.

“People have serious accidents and need the air ambulance to survive.

“It could happen to anybody.”

During his recovery Jordan visited the air ambulance base to meet the crewwho treated him.

He said: “It made me really emotional. It made me think about my accident.

“Seeing the people just brings you back and it made me think how much I had them to thank for saving my life.

“They are really nice people.”

Jordan is making an exceptional recovery and he has gone from not being able to walk unaided six months ago to regularly running four miles.

But his recovery is far from over.

He said: “I still have problems but I do my exercises and I see myself getting better as time goes on.

“If you don’t put in any pain then you won’t get in the game.”