By Jenel Hunt
A gala Downs event raised a record $747,000 for RACQ LifeFlight Rescue on the weekend (6 May) in Toowoomba.
Maybe it was the great drinks that helped the participants dig deep, as Granite Belt Brewery’s hand-crafted beer and cider were served as part of Geoff and Dee Davenport’s own gift to LifeFlight.
The RACQ might have built its business on the ground as a breakdown service for the vehicles of members, but it’s in the air that it really shines in its ability to save lives. And it was clearly something that resonated with guests who donated $277,000 more than the previous year’s record-breaking $470,000 by supporting raffles, auctions and giving their pledges for the LifeFlight First Minutes Matter trauma training program during the night.
Among the guests at The Goods Shed were Vanessa and Mark Richards, who have experienced first-hand just how important the service is during a critical medical emergency.
Two years ago, their two-year-old son Emmett was urgently flown from the Warwick Hospital to Toowoomba after he was seriously affected by Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
Vanessa will never forget just how close they came to losing their little boy.
“When the helicopter came we were just so relieved. For the first time, we sort of felt confident that our son might be okay. At that stage we had become very aware that we were very close to losing him,” she said.
“We’re grateful for this opportunity to celebrate with the LifeFlight team, and then go home and cuddle our little boy. It’s thanks to the LifeFlight team that we now have a four-year-old boy who’s very boisterous, very loud, and very entertaining,” she said, smiling through her tears.
I know there are a lot of organisations out there wanting donations and to be honest I hadn’t really thought too much about LifeFlight before, but having experienced their amazing work it makes you think about it a lot more.
“Particularly, where we were living, we were quite close to the hospital so we’d see the helicopters and hear them.”
She said that she now saw the volume of work that RACQ LifeFlight Rescue did. And she never forgets – or lets her son forget.
“It’s been really sweet to point out to our little boy the helicopter. He obviously doesn’t remember that day but he knows that these amazing people in the helicopter helped save his life,” she said.
RACQ LifeFlight Rescue pilot Dave Hampshire said a night like the gala dinner was a rare chance to chat with past patients and get feedback on how the the community at large felt about the service.
“Our job’s pretty confronting at times,” he said.
“It’s good to be here and get a feeling for how appreciated the whole service is.”
RACQ LifeFlight Rescue is part of the Emergency Helicopter Network. The helicopters, managed by Queensland Health, respond to retrieval and rescue missions.
The service is kept in the air through a service agreement with the Queensland Government, the sponsorship of the RACQ and profit-for-purpose social enterprises plus the support of the community.
Last year, the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue’s helicopters, Air Ambulance jets, critical care doctors, flight nurses and flight paramedics came to the aid of nearly 7000 people.
