East Anglian Air Ambulance has raised £2.6 million for its Cambridge Air Base Appeal thanks to the generosity of local people and businesses, who have got the campaign off to a positive start. The charity provided the update as a former patient urged everyone across the region to continue supporting the £8.2 million fundraising appeal.
Will Young, 34, received lifesaving treatment from East Anglian Air Ambulance when its critical care team attended him in 2024 – after he suffered a serious cardiac emergency while rowing on the River Cam.
Now, he is urging others to support the charity’s biggest fundraising appeal to date and help ensure the continued future of the charity’s lifesaving care across the region.
East Anglian Air Ambulance needs to urgently relocate and build a new air base in Cambridgeshire to work in parallel to its other base in Norfolk. The charity is set to lose its current home at Cambridge Airport, which is due to close in 2030.
Will’s story…
After university, Will returned to Cambridge in 2016 and quickly fell in love with rowing, competing at national level and racing at Henley Royal Regatta. However, in 2024, whilst out training with his coach, he suffered a suspected episode of Ventricular Tachycardia (VT) – a dangerously fast heart rhythm that can lead to cardiac arrest. His heart rate increased to 222 beats per minute for 20 minutes. Following further investigations at hospital, he learned that he had inflammation on part of his heart.
After a period of recovery, Will felt well enough to return to the sport he loved. However, while rowing alone early one summer morning on the River Cam, he suddenly began losing his vision, the strength in his arms went and he began falling towards the river.
Despite feeling so unwell, Will managed to row the 100m back to the boathouse and put his boat away. He went to rest on the second floor of the boathouse building.
“I’d never felt like that before,” said Will. “I felt weird and weak. I looked down at my chest and could see my sternum moving really fast. I put my heart strap on and, straight away, it showed my heart rate as 227bpm. I rang 999 and told the call handler I was having a serious cardiac event.”
A complicated riverside rescue…
When paramedics from the ambulance service arrived, they recognised that Will was at immediate risk of cardiac arrest and requested support from East Anglian Air Ambulance’s Anglia Two (Cambridge) critical care team. Tasked by critical care car to the scene, one of the charity’s Doctors and Critical Care Paramedics cardioverted Will – delivering a controlled shock to his heart to try to reset it to a normal rhythm. It was necessary to do this at the scene as Will’s blood pressure was dangerously low and he was at risk of going into cardiac arrest at any moment.
Using advanced medication carried by the crew, they sedated him so they could carry out the cardioversion procedure. However, Will’s heart briefly stopped, so the crew needed to perform CPR until his heart restarted and he began breathing independently again.
The rescue was further complicated by the boathouse’s spiral staircase, requiring a carefully coordinated extraction over the balcony of the building involving collaboration from multiple emergency services. Will was then taken by land ambulance to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, accompanied by the East Anglian Air Ambulance team.
Reflecting on the incident, Will said: “I’ve always known about the East Anglian Air Ambulance, but only later became aware that it was a charity; something I think many people don’t know. The service they provide is unbelievably important – critical in fact. I have since been able to meet the team from East Anglian Air Ambulance – it was really cool to meet the people who saved my life.”
Dr Nicola Ebbs, Deputy Medical Director from East Anglian Air Ambulance, said: “At just 33 years old, Will faced a life-threatening situation, and thanks to the charity’s supporters, he was given urgent treatment and care at the scene. To see him now using his experience to support our new air base appeal is incredibly moving. People who have experienced first-hand the difference the service can make understand better than anyone why this appeal matters. Their stories help bring to life the impact that rapid, specialist pre-hospital care can have on patients and their families. We are immensely grateful to Will for lending his support to our campaign and for helping us raise awareness of the need for a new air base.”
Continuing Nicola said: “We’d also like to extend our thanks to everyone who has donated to the Cambridge Air Base Appeal so far. Together, we’ve made an incredibly strong start and have been humbled by people’s generosity. But this is only the beginning. There’s still a significant amount of money to raise. As we push on with our fundraising efforts, every gift and every piece of support will be gratefully received – helping to ensure our crews can continue to reach critically ill and injured patients, in the quickest time possible, when every second counts.”
East Anglian Air Ambulance relies entirely on charitable donations to provide its 24/7 critical care service across the region, as well as aftercare support for former patients and their families.
The Cambridge Air Base Appeal aims to fund the construction of a new and improved facility on land at New Shardelowes Farm, on the outskirts of the Cambridgeshire village of Fulbourn.
The new base will help ensure the charity can continue to deliver hospital-level critical care to patients in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Suffolk for decades to come. Without a Cambridge base, East Anglian Air Ambulance’s lifesaving service would be cut in half, leaving just one air base in Norfolk and dramatically increasing response times to people like Will facing life-threatening emergencies across the region.
For more information or to support the Cambridge Air Base Appeal, please visit: https://www.eaaa.org.uk/cambridge-air-base-appeal
