Children’s Air Ambulance flies 500th mission taking mum and her five-day-old baby to their Doncaster home

Formed in 2012 and operated by The Air Ambulance Service, it receives no government funding and relies totally on public donations to remain operational.

Two helicopters fly out of bases in Doncaster, and also Oxford, with the average cost of each mission £3,500.

The landmark 500th flight was to transfer a five-day-old baby and her mum back to their local hospital in Doncaster from a hospital in Oxford; a journey that took 49 minutes by air compared with just under three hours by road.

Hours after she was born by emergency Caesarean section at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Kathleen was driven to Oxford by ambulance for specialist cooling therapy.

Doctors were worried she might be brain damaged because of complications during the birth and Oxford was the nearest hospital available to undertake the hypothermia treatment, even though it was 147 miles away.

Claire Garner, Kathleen’s mother, was well enough to join her daughter two days later and was with her on the helicopter for the flight back to Doncaster.

Claire, of Bentley, has now thanked the Children’s Air Ambulance for the part they played in getting them both back home quickly.

She said: “It was really important to me to be able to fly with Kathleen as I wasn’t able to be with her when she went to Oxford.

“I was so happy I could go back with her. I didn’t want her to go on her own again, even though I knew she was going to be safe. After being separated it was very important to me that we were together for the journey home.

“My baby was being constantly monitored and watched thousands of feet in the air, that’s quite a thing on its own. They made sure everything she needed was in place and she was all right. I was kept up to date and told how things were every time they checked her.

“When we were up in the sky on the way back to Doncaster, I knew that the majority of the worst was behind us and I had hope for the future.”

The Children’s Air Ambulance transfers patients and clinical partner teams between hospitals in England, Scotland and Wales.

The mission to fly Kathleen and Claire involved a specialist neo-natal team from Embrace, the Yorkshire and Humber Infant & Children’s Transport Service, which is part of Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and is based in Barnsley.

The helicopter took off from its base in Oxford, flew to pick up the Embrace team then back to Oxford to pick up mother and baby for the onward flight to Doncaster.

Claire added: “We can’t thank the crew enough. Everyone was so helpful and made sure everything was okay for both of us. We were so lucky to have been transported by such a specialist team.”

Thankfully, Kathleen suffered no long-term damage from her traumatic birth and is now a happy, healthy baby.

Anyone wishing to find out more about the work of the charity can call 0300 3045 999 or visit www.childrensairambulance.org.uk