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Jun 19

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance provides a life-saving rapid response emergency service 365 days a year to five million people across 4 million acres of Yorkshire and helping spread the word about the Charity is an army of dedicated volunteers.

One of their latest recruits is Caroline Shepherd, aged 37 from Helmsley, North Yorkshire, who last year experienced the air ambulance first hand.

Caroline was hunting on her horse at Lockton near Pickering when she suddenly collapsed and fell from her horse.

“One minute I was speaking to my dad and then the next thing I can remember was waking up in hospital 8 days later”, said Caroline.

Caroline was airlifted to James Cook University Hospital, where doctors told her that she was lucky to be alive after a subarachnoid aneurysm haemorrhage (SAH) caused her to go into respiratory arrest.

Caroline was operated on and put into an induced coma for seven days.

Caroline is just one of the volunteers being profiled by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance for National Volunteer Week.

Caroline started volunteering for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance in January 2019 and is using her experience to help with her recovery.

“I’m hoping that volunteering will get my body used to working again, so that eventually I will be able to return to full time work”, said Caroline.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance Registered Volunteers give much needed additional support to the charity by promoting closer working relationships within our local communities, increasing fundraising opportunities, developing new initiatives and also providing valuable skills and experience

“I love being out in the fresh air, the laughs you have and the connections you make. I get a real sense of team work”, said Caroline.

Caroline also uses her real life experience to aid her presentations: “It can be daunting standing up in front of the crowd telling my tale, but people are happy that you’re here to tell the tale.”

When asked what she would say to someone considering volunteering, Caroline said: “Come on board, even though its voluntary, there’s a lot of appreciation from the charity and they are very grateful for your help. It is like being part of a large family, they take you under their wing and look after you.”

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