A Westbury woman is running her first ever half marathon to raise money for Wiltshire Air Ambulance (WAA) after the service provided life-saving assistance to her friends following a motorbike accident.
Megan Edwards is hoping to raise £1,000 for the Air Ambulance by running the Great Bristol Half Marathon on Sunday 25th September.
Her friends, Séanan Henning and Alex Thomas, were seriously injured in a motorbike accident on the B3098 between Westbury and Bratton, in April. As a result, they were both airlifted to the Major Trauma Unit in Southmead Hospital, Bristol. Séanan was airlifted in just 12 minutes by the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and Alex was airlifted by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.
Megan said, “I have tried to start jogging a few times, but lacked the motivation to truly get going with it. Séanan and Alex’s accident prompted me to really do something for a worthwhile cause and the half marathon seemed like the perfect opportunity. I’ve come from not being able to run around the block four months ago, to being able to run 15km without stopping – I can’t believe I can actually do it! It has taken a lot of training, just running around Westbury three times a week and building it a bit at a time. The Wiltshire Air Ambulance saved my best friend’s life, and I am happy to do anything I can to help them save more lives.”
Megan is joining Helen Drew, from Bristol, who has been friends with Séanan since sixth form. Helen, whose parents, Sue and Ian, own the White Horse News said, “I didn’t run at all when I signed up for the half marathon but I wanted to do something positive whilst Séanan and Alex were in the hospital.
“I’m really glad that Meg decided to join me and it will be great to have someone to start the race with on the day. I’ve been spending a lot of time at the gym trying to get fit enough to make it round. It’s been a lot of hard work but it will all be worth it to raise some vital money to help keep this life-saving service running.”
Rebecca de la Bedoyere, senior fundraising manager at Wiltshire Air Ambulance said, “We’d like to thank Megan and Helen for challenging themselves to run the Great Bristol Half Marathon and raising money for Wiltshire Air Ambulance. Their dedication and commitment to completing this event is inspiring and we wish them well. We have to raise £3.25million a year to keep our crew and helicopter flying and saving lives, and we couldn’t do it without the support of people like Megan, Helen and the wider public.”
Wiltshire Air Ambulance does not receive any central government funding and relies almost entirely on public donations to keep in the air. You can sponsor Megan and Helen at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/greatbristolhalf
