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Midlands Air Ambulance Charity
A Worcestershire teen has been named Young Person of the Year at a national award ceremony in recognition of his fundraising efforts for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity.
In April 2020, aged just 14, Henry Carpenter from Clifton-upon-Teme in Worcestershire was working on his family's farm when an horrific tractor accident left him in vital need of advanced pre-hospital emergency care. He suffered devastating injuries including a fractured pelvis and dislocated hip and was tended to by Midlands Air Ambulance's aircrew from the RAF Cosford base in Shropshire before being airlifted to Birmingham Children's Hospital.
After a week in hospital, and despite his reliance on crutches, Henry wanted to thank the aircrew for their lifesaving care so took on an epic fundraising challenge and walked 54 miles in just 30 days. His efforts raised an impressive £11,400 for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity - enough to pay for emergency medics to carry out 20 lifesaving air ambulance and critical care car missions. This also earned him a nomination from the charity to the Air Ambulances UK 2021 Awards of Excellence, which he went on to win.
Henry was shortlisted alongside several other young charity supporters from four other air ambulance charities but was recently crowned Young Person of the Year for his amazing fundraising efforts.
Commenting on his win, Henry said: "Thank you to Midlands Air Ambulance Charity for the kind nomination. I only expected to raise a few pounds, but the support I received from those close to me is nothing short of incredible. The air ambulance is a vital service for those of us in the farming and equestrian communities and I cannot thank them enough for helping me on the day of my incident.
“I feel truly honoured to have been awarded the Young Person of the Year Award of Excellence at this year’s Air Ambulances UK Awards.”
Emma Gray, chief operating officer for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity added: “In spite of being in constant pain from his injuries and throughout his struggles during his recovery, Henry walked for miles on crutches in freezing conditions to raise funds for our charity. This not only called for physical strength but emotional resilience, too. After we heard his story, we had no hesitation in nominating him for a coveted national award from Air Ambulances UK. He's a real inspiration and a truly deserving winner."
Henry's Air Ambulances UK award follows his Young Fundraising of the Year win at the Birmingham Live Pride of Birmingham Awards 2021 earlier this year.
Air Ambulances UK is the national organisation championing, supporting and representing the lifesaving work of the UK's 21 air ambulance charities. The Air Ambulance's UK Awards of Excellence 2021 aims to recognise those with inspiring air ambulance charity stories including crew members, pilots, patients, teams and volunteers from across the UK and celebrate their outstanding contribution towards helping to save the lives of people in need of their lifesaving pre-hospital emergency care.
To find out more about Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, visit the website and follow the organisation on social media.