Crash survivor donates to air ambulance

12:56pm Friday 13th June 2008

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A Devizes garage owner who was almost killed in a motorcycle race crash last year is donating ten per cent of his earnings from car accident repairs to support the medical teams that saved him.

And within days of making his offer, Andy Downes was in Devizes to hand over the first of what could be dozens of £50 donations to keep the Wiltshire Air Ambulance flying, to Shaun Russell, one of the expert paramedics who crew the emergency helicopter.

Mr Downes, proprietor of Bodytech Services in Salisbury, was airlifted from the Isle of Wight in August last year when he broke his neck and was temporarily paralysed after his speedway bike crashed at high speed.

The Wiltshire Air Ambulance service is one of three regional charities that will benefit from the Salisbury businessman's medieval-style tithe', along with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance service and the Southern Spinal Injuries Trust. The rolling donations could amount to thousands of pounds this year.

In between emergency calls, Wiltshire helicopter paramedic Shaun joined SSIT Trustee Victoria Holton and the Hampshire and IOW air ambulance service fund-raiser Annette Plaistow-Trapaud to accept the handover on behalf of the funds.

Mr Downes admitted that after his crash his life was in the hands of the trackside first-aiders and paramedics who also treated him for a broken shoulder, broken ribs and a punctured lung before he was taken to hospital.

The businessman is now back on his feet and running his accident repair and autoservice operation in Salisbury. For the next 12 months, all private car crash repairs carried out by Bodytech with labour costs of over £500 will generate a £50 donation while repairs costing £250 or more will add a further £25 each.

He is involving his customers directly in the donation process, inviting them to choose which of the three charities they want to support and writing out a cheque on the spot before sealing it in a stamped envelope for the customer to post.

Mr Downes has emphasised that it won't be his customers or fleet clients who end up paying the donations. "The money is coming out of my pocket. Our hourly rates are unchanged."

"I've been very, very lucky," said Andy. "It was touch and go for me for a while, and being paralysed was the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced.

"The region's health services were there when I needed them most and they didn't let me down. I want to thank all the first aiders, paramedics, air ambulance crews, doctors, nurses and others who made my recovery possible, and the tithe is my way of saying it. I'm just glad to be alive."