Grieving mum raises over £100k for air ambulance

A mother whose son died after a motorbiking accident has said she hopes her fundraising efforts since his death will spare other families from the "indescribable" pain she has felt.

Graham Swallow died following a crash as he was travelling on Snake Pass in Derbyshire in May 2007.

His mum, Janet Swallow, 67, from Holmfirth, has since raised more than £100,000 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, whose crew tried to save Mr Swallow's life.

Ms Swallow said her fundraising for the charity had brought her "a lot of comfort out of a bad situation".

"Somebody else's fundraising enabled that helicopter to attend Graham, so I now have enabled it to attend a lot of other people's accidents," she added.

Following Mr Swallow's accident in 2007, a Yorkshire Air Ambulance critical care team was sent to the scene.

Crew members spent almost an hour recovering him from a ditch before transporting him to hospital.

Ms Swallow said the work done by the air ambulance crew had been "crucial".

"It would have taken an hour in a car to get him to Sheffield General, but it took 10 minutes," she said.

"Sadly, we lost him through his injuries, but they gave him the best chance he had."

Ms Swallow now attends more than 20 events a year in order to raise money for the charity.

She said the fundraising had been a "coping mechanism" following her son's death.

"After it happened, I was just numb. Losing Graham was a nightmare, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

"Even after all this time, you don't get over it, you just get through it.

"This has given me a massive focus."

On Sunday at the Ravensknowle Children's Gala in Huddersfield, her fundraising efforts finally surpassed her ambitious target to reach a total of £100,069.

Mike Harrop, Yorkshire Air Ambulance chairman, described Ms Swallow's dedication to her fundraising cause as "truly remarkable".

"Jan's fundraising has played an indispensable role. We are immensely grateful for her outstanding efforts," he said.

Mr Harrop added: "Her story serves as a powerful testament to the profound impact one individual can have."

Ms Swallow said she had "never, ever, in my wildest dreams" imagined she would raise as much money for the charity as she had.

"People say to me, 'how much longer will you be doing it?' I say, 'as long as I enjoy doing it'," she added.

"I still get a massive buzz when I can come home and count how much I've raised, and I can hand that over to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance."

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