Magnificent 7-year-old supports lifesaving air ambulance

An inspiring seven-year-old boy from Warwick has raised over £1,000 for a lifesaving charity after he completed his first-ever junior triathlon.

Nathan Edmunds raised an impressive £1,025 by completing a 25m swim, a 1k cycle, and a 500m run at the Henley-on-Thames Triathlon in July after he was inspired by the work of Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) which often flies over the family home.

In preparation for his formidable challenge, the youngster trained hard every day and even battled through the pain after he’d fallen off his bike and sustained a nasty bruise to his leg while training.

On the day of the triathlon, Nathan’s hard work and determination paid off. He placed fifth out of 77 junior contestants and third out of all seven-year-olds.

Nathan now has a taste for triathlons and is already keen to do more. He has also signed up to become a member of our Children’s Air Ambulance fundraising club, #TheCrew, and is already planning his next fundraising event.

“Nathan loves the air ambulance and always runs out to the garden to try and spot it when he hears it flying overhead,” explained Mum Nikki. “He chose which charity he wanted the money to go to, as he believes it to be a fantastic charity that saves so many lives across our county. When he is older, Nathan says he wants to work on a rescue helicopter”.

WNAA fundraising executive Lee Bunting said: “For Nathan to have done so well in his first junior triathlon is just brilliant. We also had the pleasure of taking him to our base to present the money and show him just want his fundraising will go towards.

“We are so very, very grateful that Nathan chose to support us and I look forward to working with him and his family again when he does his next one”.

WNAA is crewed by critical care paramedics, doctors, and pilots who attend an average of 10 rescue missions a day. Within minutes, they can be on the ground delivering lifesaving care at road traffic collisions, sports events, and industrial accidents or for medical emergencies such as cardiac arrest, stroke, or accidents in the home.

The air ambulance gives people the very best chance of survival and recovery. Its helicopter can fly at 185mph and carry the very latest lifesaving equipment.

The charity also provides critical care cars, which ensure valuable backup for incidents close to the helicopter base or when the weather makes it too dangerous to fly. It also enables the doctors and critical care paramedics to be run a night car service so they are available to reach those in need 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

The charity receives no funding from the government or National Lottery for our daily missions and we rely entirely on donations to raise the £1,700 we need for each rescue mission.