Shropshire mum raises £1,000 after air ambulance helped injured toddler
When Mya Thomas lived every parent's nightmare of seeing her toddler knocked down by a car, it was the Midlands Air Ambulance that came to the rescue.
Now she has shown her gratitude to the service that flew her daughter Morgan, then less than a year old, to Birmingham Children's Hospital, with a cheque for £1,000.
It is four years since the accident in Oak Meadow, Bishop's Castle, where Mya and Morgan lived at the time.
Mya, a 26-year-old full-time mum now living in Craven Arms, said: "It wasn't the nicest to go through but she's five, nearly six, now and fit and well, you wouldn't know there had been anything wrong."
She handed over the money to representatives from the Air Ambulance service at the town playing fields next to Craven Arms Community Centre (CasCA) yesterday.
The money was raised over recent months, mostly at a charity bingo night held at CasCA.
Mya said about 60 people attended the night on March 24, and more such fundraising events may follow.
She said it was nice to give something back after the role the Air Ambulance played in making sure Morgan got treatment fast after the horrifying accident.
The air ambulance service was called in to fly the toddler to Birmingham Children's Hospital.
"It was four days before her first birthday," Mya said.
Morgan is believed to have been dragged under the car as she had burns to her chest and shoulder, and had to have 42 stitches to the back of her head after a skin graft operation.
But happily, due to the fast action of the emergency services and hospital staff, Morgan was patched up and back on her feet again just days later, for her birthday.
You may not expect Morgan, who at the time went to The Ark nursery in Pontesbury and now attends Stokesay Primary in Craven Arms, to recall any of it, but the youngster says she does.
Mya said: "She says she remembers going in the ambulance, but nothing else.
"But she remembers it as being in the ambulance laughing when of course she was crying."
Midlands Air Ambulance is the charity responsible for funding and operating three air ambulances serving the region.
Each mission costs £2,500 and in excess of £7 million is needed each year to keep the three air ambulances operational, which is donated entirely by the public and charity-supporting businesses.
