Sussex woman has air ambulance tattoo to say thanks for dad's rescue (From The Argus)

Sussex woman has air ambulance tattoo to say thanks for dad's rescue

11:50am Wednesday 5th September 2012 in News By Siobhan Ryan

This is the unusual tattoo Laura Flight has had inked on her arm in tribute to the rescuers who saved her dad’s life.

She decided to have the Sussex, Kent and Surrey Air Ambulance logo tattooed on to her arm as a permanent reminder of the team's efforts.

Mrs Flight’s father Steve Heselden, 56, from Eastbourne, suffered two punctured lungs, nine broken ribs and a broken shoulder after he collided with a car.

Air ambulance pilot Kevin Goddard arrived within minutes with the helicopter’s doctor and paramedic who treated Steve at the scene before flying him to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

The experienced motorcyclist spent seven weeks in Brighton and later Guy’s Hospital before he was finally discharged to his home in Whitley Road.

He said: “If it hadn’t been for the air ambulance taking me to hospital I don’t think I would have survived.

“I’ve no memory of what happened but the first thing I remember thinking is that I had too much wrong with me and wasn’t going to make it.

“The next thing I recall is the noise of the helicopter and the doctor and paramedic in their bright red flight suits.”

Mr Heselden had been visiting Mrs Flight, 30, from West Hoathly, at the cafe where she works when the accident happened in May.

Mrs Flight was so impressed with the care given to her father she urged people to sponsor her when she had the tattoo done.

She said: “I want to honour the people who saved my dad’s life with a permanent tribute and raise some money to help keep them in the air and saving lives.”

The tattoo was donated by North Road Tattoo in Brighton and Mrs Flight raised more than £230.

She is also planning a ball and to take part in the Three Peaks Challenge in aid of the charity which relies almost entirely on public donations.

Mr Heselden, an electrician, needed two operations to insert four metal ribs and remove a blood clot from his chest.

He is currently off work but is expected to make an almost full recovery although he may have permanent nerve damage to his leg and shoulder.

Mrs Flight can still be sponsored at www.justgiving.com/lauraflighttattoo .