Woman raises thousands for air crews that saved her life after crash near Salisbury
Minna Leatham is walking five miles after a crash killed her partner
A 20-year-old is on a mission to raise as much as she can for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance and Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.
Minna Leatham's life was saved when she was in a high-speed car accident, near Salisbury, back in November.
Today she is embarking on a five-mile walk, finishing at her partners family pub in Bristol, who sadly died in the collision.
Currently she has raised £22,000, which she will be splitting between the two air ambulance charities.
MINNA'S STORY
On 16th November 20202, Minna and her partner Hugo Yaxley were travelling in a red Honda Jazz along the A30 near Salisbury, Wiltshire, when they collided head on with a Range Rover at 60mph.
Hugo tragically died in hospital later that night as a result of his injuries.
On Friday 2nd July, just eight months after the horrific accident in which she broke her back, jaw, ribs, cheekbones and wrist, and suffered internal damage to her lungs, eyes, pancreas and liver.
"Had it not been for the Air Ambulance team, I certainly would have been left paralysed or very possibly died. My various internal injuries kept me hanging between life and death for the first few days, but thanks to the incredible Air Ambulance crew and the equally amazing team at University Hospital Southampton, my life was saved.
"I obviously feel unbelievably grateful to the Air Ambulance team and was astonished to learn that they rely solely on donations and receive no government funding. This fired my ambition to pay them back in any way I could for saving my life and for giving the wonderful Yaxley family the chance to say goodbye to Hugo. Devastatingly, Hugo's injuries were catastrophic.
"but, the treatment he received from the Air Ambulance crew meant that, because he was still alive when he reached Southampton, his family were able to be with him one last time before he passed away."
Minna is on the road to recovery; as well as the physical recovery and rehabilitation, she has had to overcome equal amounts of emotional anguish after losing a partner to a car crash at the age of 19.
Acting Chief Executive of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, Sherie Williams Ellen, says: "Our hearts go out to everyone who was involved in this awful incident. Nobody knows when it is they may need our help and we aim to always be there for people in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and the surrounding areas when they need us most. It is through the kindness, passion and bravery of people such as Minna, undertaking this enormous challenge and helping to raise much-needed funds for us in troubled times, that we are able to keep flying to those patients who need our care, just as she did."
Road traffic collisions accounted for 21% of HIOWAA's yearly call-outs in 2020; second only to cardiac arrests.