A father is undertaking an arduous 250-mile journey across Scotland to raise tens of thousands of pounds for the air ambulance charity that saved his daughter’s life.
Keira Hanratty suffered two broken arms and a fractured spine after a devastating head-on crash while she was on holiday with a friend back in June 2017. Her father Tom, says that the accident took place near Roybridge and that healthcare professionals had described the then 11-year-olds injuries as life-threatening.
The young girl was rushed by Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance to Raigmore Hospital but after an hour she was then taken to Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Children where she underwent surgery and recovered for three weeks. Tom, who works as an operations manager, is therefore trying to raise £35,000 for the charity that airlifted his daughter to safety.
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The ordeal still has a lasting impact on the dad with the 39-year-old from Perth telling the Daily Record : "My wife Leigh and I had been at a music festival in Nottingham when we got the call that Kiera was in hospital. We immediately flew back to Scotland, but weren't allowed to see her until after her operation at Royal Hospital for Children.
"It was horrific, we were in tears. Her face was twice its normal size and she had breaks in both her arms, a compression fracture in her spine, a bruised heart, and other internal injuries.
"When the nurse started telling us what had happened, my wife collapsed. At that moment my brother grabbed me and hugged me. I'll never be able to thank him enough for that."
Tom is confident that his daughter would not be here today unless it was for the timely response of the Air Ambulance in 2017. He described her recovery as nothing short of a miracle.
He added: "The air ambulance got Kiera from the scene of a crash to hospital within an hour - that's what saved her life.
"When you consider how bad the crash was, it is amazing she recovered."
Tom is now planning to undertake a harsh 14-day trek from Musselburgh in East Lothian to Dornoch in the Highlands alongside his brother Michael in May. The duo are looking to raise £35,000 - this equates to the total cost of an emergency call-out by the SCAA for every day of their 14 day hike.
Tom said: "We've been talking about doing this fundraiser for a few years. We were going to do it back in 2020 but Covid put it on hold.
"We are going to start it at our old primary school in Musselburgh then trek all the way to Dornoch where Michael lives. We're also going to kayak for part of the journey and will be camping for the whole two weeks."
Kiera, now 16, added: "I was a bit nervous when I first heard about it because it's such a huge challenge, but my dad has been training every single day.
"Both my dad and my uncle are very determined and I can see how much effort they're putting into it. I'm so proud of them both."
You can donate to their fundraiser here.
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