The Beast from the East and Storm Emma may have tried to beat everyone down, but where there’s a will there’s always a way!
Thanks to the tireless work of staff at Multiflight and Leeds Bradford Airport the snow kept being cleared as it came. The conditions were horrendous at times, with large quantities of snow and a bracing wind.
We were all warmed by a story at the weekend relating to one of our HEMS pilots. Multiflight manages, crews and maintains the helicopters for the Great North Air Ambulance Service and one of our pilots, Jon Everitt, found himself unable to drive over for his run of shifts due to all the East-West routes being shut due to snow. Multiflight flew him over but he was stuck without a car.
A kindly taxi driver, Mike, from Abacus Taxis in Penrith, stepped in and made sure pilot Jon could get to work and back all weekend. Jon had been struggling to find anyone to make the journey. Mike wanted to help in recognition of the charity’s work.
The story was highlighted by the charity on Twitter, with Jon saying: “Thanks Mike for helping me get in on time each day!”
Jon explained he was supposed to be travelling over to Langwathby last Friday to cover a run of four days on the air ambulance. It was on that day that all three viable east-west routes were closed due to the snow (A66, A69 and M62). In order to ensure that there was a pilot to cover over there, Multiflight flew Jon up.
The problem was then that the closest available accommodation was in Penrith, but because of the early morning start time and the condition of the roads in the low temperatures none of the taxi drivers that he could get through to would take on the job of getting him in to work each morning. He then booked a hire car but it was massively expensive which would have been less than ideal, but when he got off the phone from the hire car company one of the taxi drivers had called him back and left me an answerphone message. It was Mike from Abacus taxis in Penrith who said that he had been thinking about how important the work of the charity was and he would make sure that Jon got in every day. He went on to do that, getting up at 5.30am each day to make sure he was with Jon in time. He didn’t want to be paid at the end of it all (but Jon insisted!).
What a lovely story. Thanks from Multiflight too Mike, for helping our pilot out.
Hopefully the worst is now over, but please continue to take care out there.
