A school teacher has raised £1,300 for a lifesaving charity after her brother needed its medics help following an accident which saw his hand being amputated.

Gill Wright, from Mexborough, South Yorkshire, took part in the Wales Air Ambulance’s My20 fundraiser after her brother was flown from Wrexham to Royal Stoke University Hospital by the Charity in February.

The Wales Air Ambulance celebrated its 20th anniversary on March 1 and to acknowledge the milestone, the Charity created a new fundraising event called My20. My20 allowed the participant to set themselves a challenge, task or activity that relates to the number '20' which they completed within a month.

Gill’s brother, Chris Wright’s hand was amputated in a horrific industrial accident. The Wales Air Ambulance critical care team airlifted him directly to the nearest major trauma centre in Stoke for further assessment, where they stayed with him while waiting for confirmation of onward transfer to a specialist hand surgeon in Derby.

The team were then able to transfer him directly to the specialist hand centre in Derby for time critical surgery to reattach his hand. His hand was successfully reattached during a 11.5 hour operation.

Despite having several health problems, Gill was determined to walk a mile a day with help from her mum and colleagues.

The teacher at Pennine View School, Conisborough, South Yorkshire, was determined to take on the challenge despite her own pain.

Her grateful brother, Chris, said: “Gill took on an amazing challenge for the charity. Gill suffers from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, which has an enormous impact on her everyday life as a special needs school teacher. She has to walk with crutches as she is awaiting surgery for two new knees and also suffers from arthritis of the spine which causes her chronic pain.”

The children at the school became very interested in her challenge and Gill taught them about the Wales Air Ambulance and how it helps people get to hospital quickly.

The pupils enjoyed drawing lots of pictures, they walked with their teacher and took part in a challenge to see how many laps of the school track they could complete. Lots of her colleagues also sponsored Gill and joined her for her last half mile.

Dougie Bancroft, the Charity’s Community Fundraiser Coordinator, said: “A huge thank you to Gill for taking part in our My20 challenge. Despite her daily pain she was determined to raise funds for our Charity that recently helped her brother Chris, which is inspirational. We’re delighted to hear that the pupils in her school were not only interested in learning about our lifesaving service, but they also took part in the challenge with their teacher. Thank you to everyone who has supported Gill and helped her raise an amazing £1,300 for the Wales Air Ambulance.”

There are several ways that the public can continue to support the Wales Air Ambulance. These include online donations, signing up to the Charity’s Lifesaving Lottery or by coming up with their own innovative ways to fundraise at home. Further information can be found via www.walesairambulance.com. 

Alternatively, a £5 text-message donation can be made by texting the word HELI to 70711.