Helicopters can be the difference between life and death
An appeal has begun to finance a second air ambulance for Wales to cover the north of the country. The Welsh Air Ambulance Charity needs to raise £750,000 a year to fund the emergency service.
If £250,000 can be raised by July, a second air ambulance could come into operation in time for the busy summer season.
The first Wales Air Ambulance, which is based at Swansea's Fairwood Airport, was launched on 1 March 2001.
It has already flown more than 800 missions, mainly in south and mid Wales, and has helped more than 400 seriously ill or injured people.
The new project has won the backing of the mother and fiancée of a 26-year-old man killed in a car crash near Harlech in Gwynedd last year.
Kieron Wilkes died at the site of the accident, which was 50 miles away from Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor.
His fiancée Nia Evans was taken to the hospital with severe spinal injuries by police helicopter.
Since the tragedy, Kieron's mum Sandra and his home community of Llanaber have raised £22,500 to get the appeal under way.
"The nearest hospital to us is Bangor, which is an hour away by road in the winter and two hours in the summer when the amount of traffic multiplies tenfold," she said.
Chief ambulance officer for the Welsh Ambulance NHS Trust John Bottell said a second helicopter would provide an even better life-saving service for Wales. "It has always been our aim to have two air ambulances responding to emergency calls across the country," he said. "We know there is huge support from the public and we will do our best to ensure the new service will be as successful as the current Wales air ambulance," he added.