An ambulance paid for through a £10,000 fundraising campaign spearheaded by a Plumpton-based business has made it to the frontline of the war zone in Ukraine.
Paul Thomas, of The Pot Place Garden Centre and Tea Room, who was part of the team which delivered the ambulance to a town in Poland, near the border with Ukraine, got a message on Sunday to say it had made it to eastern Ukraine, where the country is at war with Russia.
“It makes me feel very happy and a bit emotional because you didn’t really think you could ever actually get it that far – right to the frontline,” said Paul.
All along, Paul said the feeling had been that if the ambulance helps one person, or saves one life, then it will all be worth it.
“The reception we had was fantastic. Essentially, when you go into a war zone, you think that what we are bringing is really a drop in the ocean, but to the people who use it, it’s exactly what they need at exactly the right time.
“It is also recognition that they haven’t been forgotten and that somebody is thinking about them. They were over the moon,” said Paul.
The plan had been hatched after Paul and his team had already taken two van loads of aid to Poland for Ukrainian families who had come over the border.
On the way back Paul was reading about a couple of guys who had already taken out ambulances, and not long after that he heard that some NHS trusts had got involved. In total, about nine ambulances went from Newcastle and 10 from London, all donated by the hospital trusts.
He thought it sounded like a good idea and set about raising the necessary funds to buy a former ambulance at auction.
“Unfortunately, the blue lights and sirens had been taken off – they are usually taken off when they are decommissioned before they are sold – so we sourced them with the help of Cumbria fire brigade in Kendal,” said Paul.
His team also had to find a stretcher and got medical supplies from the North East Ambulance Service, while Preston-based North West Medical supplied things like the defibrillators and body boards. They also took out a support van, filled full of hospital blankets.
Making the trip alongside Paul was Norman Tolson, who works at The Pot Place, and they picked up Peter Lewicka, who works on a farm in Plumpton and was on holiday in Poland.
The ambulance was then taken to the Polish town of Przemysl, which is about eight miles from the border with Ukraine.
“We had the contacts which we had been given from the charity Medical Aid Ukraine North East and met up with Joanna, a paramedic with the Polish ambulance service,” said Paul.
The vehicle was then taken first to an ambulance station in Lviv, which is about 30 miles on the other side into Ukraine, before going on to the war zone.
Paul added: “This should not be going on to people living peacefully in their own country just because a neighbour suddenly decides they want that country.
“In my mind they are part of Europe. They gained independence in the 90s. I went out there on a different kind of trip in 2006 and 08, and it was fantastic to them that they had their independence after being so long in Russian control. They were building a terrific democratic nation. They had invested in infrastructure, healthcare and everything, and then, all of a sudden, it has all gone wrong.
“I just think it’s a terrible injustice and we have got to try and do what we can.”
The plan now is have ongoing contact with those in the ambulance service both in Poland and Lviv. “We will continue to support them,” said Paul.
