A secondary school science teacher from Cardiff says he ‘owes’ his life to the Wales Air Ambulance as he prepares to take on his seventh fundraiser for the Charity.
30-year-old Nicholas Salter from Cardiff, needed the service as a child, after sustaining serious facial injuries during a camping trip with his scout group in the Forest of Dean.
Since his accident in July 2007, he has helped raise over £15,000.
He added: “I owe everything to Wales Air Ambulance; I wouldn’t be here today without their help.
“I was so fortunate the year after my accident, to be reunited with the team that came to my aid. After that I decided to devote my life to fundraising for the service.”
Nicholas was cycling down the side of a mountain when his brake cable snapped, near a cliff edge.
He said: “In my head, there were two options, either keep going with the inevitable outcome, or take a chance and throw myself off the bike.
“So, I decided to throw myself off, but in doing so knocked myself out and still went off the cliff edge.”
Nicholas needed immediate medical attention and the air ambulance attended.
He said: “I was unconscious for quite a while, and when I finally woke up, I was at Hereford hospital. The nurse looking after me explained what had happened.
“There was a serious threat to my life because my face had swollen so much so that it could have an impact on my brain and essentially crush it.
“She said, I was ‘fortunate to get an air ambulance’ and that if I wouldn’t have got the help that I received, I ‘might not have survived’ the trauma.”
The Wales Air Ambulance is consultant-led, taking hospital-standard treatments to the patient and if required, transferring them directly to the most appropriate hospital for their illness or injury.
It is delivered via a unique third sector and public sector partnership. The Wales Air Ambulance Charity relies on public donations to raise the £11.2 million required every year to keep the helicopters in the air and rapid response vehicles on the road.
The Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS) supplies highly skilled NHS consultants and critical care practitioners who work on board the Charity’s vehicles.
This advanced critical care includes the ability to administer anaesthesia, deliver blood transfusions and conduct minor operations, all at the scene of an incident.
As a pan-Wales service, its dedicated crews, regardless of where they are based, will travel the length and breadth of the country to deliver emergency lifesaving care.
Nicholas, who is going into his sixth year of teaching in September says there isn’t a day that passes that he isn’t grateful for the care he received from Wales Air Ambulance.
He said: “A year after my accident I organised and took part in a charity bike ride with a load of friends from the Brecon Beacons to Cardiff Bay, which is 55 miles.”
He admits most people thought he was mad to take on such a huge challenge after suffering such horrendous injuries.
But he said: “What happened to me, will to many seem hugely traumatic, but I do not remember a thing. Not even the helicopter flight.”
Nicholas added: “I am so fortunate in that it hasn’t stopped me getting on with my life. In fact, it’s made me value what I’ve got much more.
“All I’ve got to show is a few scars, my jaw went through my lip, so I’ve got a huge scar there.
“I got a couple of scars on my lip, and I’ve got a few up on my hairline but I hide them well with my facial hair.”
Nicholas is a real go-getter, he loves travelling ‘a lot’, doing extreme sports and scuba diving.
He said: “I try and do everything I physically can in in my life. I am very spontaneous. If someone asks me to do something, I am 100% ‘let’s do it!’.
“You only live life once and I almost had that chance taken away at a very early age, so if someone says shall we skydive next month, I am in.”
When he isn’t in the classroom or jumping out of a plane, you’ll find Nicholas working as a safety steward at the Principality Stadium.
The music fan, who loves attending festivals said: “This summer’s been busy because we’ve had Oasis, Catfish and the Bottle Men, Stereophonics, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Chris Brown.
“I’m fortunate to be able to get a spot at the sell-out gigs but get paid to make sure everyone is safe and having a good time.”
Nicholas feels like he’s been given a ‘second chance’ and wants to make the most of every opportunity that comes his way.
A keen runner, he regularly covers 5 or 10ks and does park runs each weekend but wants to push himself this October at the Cardiff Half Marathon.
He said: “I’ve done bog snorkelling, organised charity nights and music gigs, sky diving in the UK and Australia all in aid of Wales Air Ambulance.
“But I’ve never done a half marathon, I know it’s going to be a big challenge for me, but I’ll have the clinicians in my mind, inspiring me along the course.”
Nicholas added: “I owe everything to the Charity. I regularly see stories in the news with patients talking about how it saved them.
“I am one of them. The service is just incredible, and it is hard not to feel motivated, when you know that they are helping people like me day in, day out, 365 days of the year.
“I would encourage anyone who was thinking about supporting a cause, to do it in aid of Wales Air Ambulance, you never know when you, a family member or friend might need it.”
He has set up a Go Fund Me page and hopes to raise £500. Nick Salter is fundraising for Wales Air Ambulance Charitable Trust
Christian Sullivan, Regional Fundraising Manager for Wales Air Ambulance said:
“Nicholas is such a powerhouse, and we are so glad to see that he made such an incredible recovery from his injuries.
“To get on his bike, as a thirteen-year-old, one year after diving off a cliff edge, shows such courage. I am blown away that he was thinking of our charity at such a young age and continues to be inspired.
“17 years on, Nicholas is still supporting our lifesaving service and the work we do, we are grateful that he has chosen to run in aid of us at the Cardiff Half.
“He has raised £15,000 over the years, and every pound raised will have helped save lives.”
