After suffering a fall while climbing, Sam Snowdon was flown to hospital by DSAA. Since his recovery, he has been fundraising.

Sam's story

In March 2022, I took a fall while climbing in Dorset. I was very quickly put into a compromising position with my breathing rapidly deteriorating. I was lucky to have friends nearby who phoned for help (and who had to run for some miles to get signal).

Initial reports coming back were saying that the land ambulance would be a couple of hours before they could get to me. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance were quick to respond and the sound of an approaching helicopter brought me such great relief. They were able to administer the appropriate care and get me into a much more comfortable state, ahead of getting me to hospital before my condition worsened.

The injuries I suffered were six broken ribs, a collapsed left lung and a moderate tension pneumothorax. Who knows what would have happened if they had not been there and for that reason, I decided to raise money in aid of their wonderful work.

On Saturday 24th September 2022, along with some friends, I ran the Welsh3000s, which covered 15 peaks over 50km, gaining nearly 4,000m of ascent in the wonderful mountains of North Wales. I aimed to run from the first to the last peak in under 12 hours and successfully completed the challenge in under the time limit. It was a monster of a challenge, but a huge thank you to everyone who supported me, helping to raise £735 including gift aid.

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The DSAA team that attended Sam’s incident were: James Keegan, Chris Dragatis, Stuart Cox, Dan Volpi and Scott Armstrong. Also in attendance from the ambulance service were: Polly Leppard and Michael Sherwood.

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If you've been inspired by Sam's story and would like to help us to continue saving lives, we would be grateful to receive your donation or have you raise funds for our service. No matter how big or small, every penny donated really will make a big difference! Thank you.

NEXT: Stephanie's Story