A TEN-year-old is putting his best foot forward today to help the charity that saved his life.
A TEN-year-old is putting his best foot forward today to help the charity that saved his life.
Kieran Seymour suffered serious head injuries and broke his legs in a horror smash which killed his grandmother in 2005 when a motorbike ploughed into them in Ipswich's London Road.
Kieran was flown to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge by the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA), where medics saved his life, while his grandfather lost both legs.
Now the youngster and his family - mum Samantha, dad Shaun and brother Ethan, six - are saying a massive thank you by taking part in the Orwell Walk.
They hope to raise �400 by taking part in the event on Saturday, June 28.
The family, of Shrublands Avenue, Ipswich, has supported many EAAA fundraising events in recent years but this will be the first time Kieran himself has taken part.
He won't be able to walk the full 25 miles but hopes to walk three, together with his younger brother.
Mr Seymour said: “The accident and its aftermath changed our family forever. The one good thing that came out of it is that Kieran survived dreadful injuries to his legs and is with us today, back to his chirpy self.
“He's always wanted to do something himself to help the air ambulance and, when we heard about the Orwell Walk, we thought it would be a great opportunity to do something together as a family.
“We've all embraced our training regime and are really looking forward to the big day!”
Nichola Wright, Fundraising Manager for the EAAA in Suffolk, added: “There's no doubt that we're finding things much tougher this year as people across the region are forced to tighten their belts.
“Against this backdrop, we're delighted that the Seymours will be putting their best feet forward and having a great family day out on our behalf.”
Are you raising money for a good cause? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ips-wich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.
East Anglian Air Ambulance
The East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) was established in 2000 and in the early days operated in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk functioning with one helicopter - Anglia One
In 2007 it extended its service to operate a second helicopter, Anglia Two, which serves Bedford-shire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough while Anglia One now focuses on covering Norfolk and Suffolk
The charity is independent of government and National Lottery funding and is entirely dependent on fundraising and contributions
To keep its two air ambulances flying and to provide the advanced medical equipment they carry more than �3 million per year has to be raised
On average the EAAA are called to four incidents a day, life threatening situations such as road traffic acci-dents, incidents involving people in inaccessible places, cardiac arrests
Road traffic collisions make up more than 50 per cent of the incidents the air ambulances attend
SOURCE: East Anglian Air Ambulance
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