A Gloucestershire mum travelled to London this week to make a heartfelt speech at a Parliamentary Reception in support of her local air ambulance, Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC).
The Owens-Crooks family needed the urgent help of GWAAC’s Critical Care Team in 2019 when Jasmine, then just four years old, stopped breathing at home. Niky says of GWAAC, “For us life could have been over that day. In the most awful, devastating situation they got to us and took control. They saved Jasmine and gave her the opportunity to fight on through ROHHAD (a rare disorder of respiratory control and the auto nervous system regulation) and to live. To have a life and to enjoy it.”
Niky and her family joined representatives from GWAAC and other members of Air Ambulances UK, the national charity supporting the lifesaving work of the UK’s air ambulance charities, to highlight the important work of the sector and to seek support from parliamentarians, government officials and key stakeholders for critical policy initiatives ahead of the forthcoming general election.
GWAAC’s key ask locally is for the Government to make available a capital funding pot for air ambulance charities to bid into, for money for capital projects that will improve the service that GWAAC can provide to people in its communities. GWAAC provides the critical care and air ambulance service for 2.1 million people across Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and parts of Wiltshire.
Alex Chalk, Member of Parliament for Cheltenham and Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice and Niky’s local MP, came to the reception to offer his support for the family.
Niky was one of a handful of speakers at the reception, alongside Pete Wishart, Member of Parliament for the Scottish National Party and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Air Ambulances (APPGAA) who opened the reception and Helen Whately MP who addressed the sector as Minister of State in the DHSC.
Niky said, “It was such an honour to be able to share our story and help with awareness. It was an absolute privilege to be able to do this with so many air ambulance crews from across the UK listening. GWAAC, and all the UK’s air ambulances, are the ones that save lives like ours. To be able to remind them of what a difference they make to families like ours was incredible.”
Anna Perry, GWAAC’s CEO said, “The Parliamentary Reception was a wonderful opportunity to speak with local MPs and raise awareness of the issues we face locally that restrict the service that we can provide to people in urgent need in our region. I am hugely grateful to Niky for giving up her time and making her wonderful speech, and to partner Ryan and of course Jasmine for coming and supporting us too. After hearing Niky speak, many of our colleagues in the air ambulance sector said that it was the most powerful speech they had ever heard from someone who had experienced our service, and Niky touched everyone in the room with her story of a parent’s grief and hope.”