Retail Volunteer Story – Steve
September 15, 2025
1. Sporting venues
Kingsholm, home of Gloucester Rugby
Offering large and often empty spaces, many sports grounds in our region have provided a safe space for Helimed 65 to land near our patients. This includes some of the homes to the biggest teams in our region, such as Gloucester Rugby's Kingsholm and the Gloucestershire County Ground located in Bristol. The latter of which acted as a landing site for our crew during a County Championship match between Gloucestershire and Durham back in 2021. The players had to leave the field when Helimed 65 came in to land following an incident near the ground. The tweet below was shared by the official Gloucestershire County Cricket Club account following our arrival, capturing the attention of cricket fans across the globe.
A Great Western Air Ambulance has landed on the outfield due to a critical incident nearby.
— Gloucestershire Cricket (@Gloscricket) September 21, 2021
Play will commence as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/ahfgCu4sEr
2. Attractions
Noah's Ark Zoo Farm
Outside The Wave
The Wave from above
Our helicopter has been called to various tourist attractions in the region. In August 2025, we landed at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm in North Somerset to treat a patient who had fallen unwell. This meant landing next to the reindeer enclosure, providing the photo above. We have also landed at places like The Wave in South Gloucestershire and many others before too!
3. By the sea
Middle Hope - a small beach in North Somerset
Helimed 65 pictured on the slipway in Clevedon by Alex Wong
Weston-super-Mare beach
As the local air ambulance for towns such as Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon and Portishead, it is not unusual for us to land on beaches of all varieties. Beaches — when not filled with people — provide an excellent place for us to land due to the open space. Our pilots just need to keep an eye on the tide, especially when landing on the beach, with the Severn Estuary famously boasting the highest tidal range in Europe.
4. Famous local landmarks
Royal Crescent, Bath
The Severn Bridge
Landing at College Green, Bristol, captured by Tom Spencer-Hutchings
We're incredibly proud to be there for the 2.1 million people across our region day in, day out. We love the region we serve and the many famous landmarks that are located within it. From the iconic Royal Crescent in Bath, to the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. Either by flying over these landmarks, or landing on them, our crew get to experience a unique view of the places that make the West Country amazing.
5. Festivals
Witcombe Festival
Glastonbury Festival from above
In the summer, we were called to a medical emergency at Glastonbury Festival. Critical Care Doctor, Mike, managed to snap a photo of the infamous Pyramid Stage as well as a sea of tents and festival goers. With such a large concentration of people gathering for festivals, there is always a chance that the skill and expertise of our crew will be needed to help someone in attendance.
6. Airports and airfields
Bristol Airport
Cotswold Gliding Club
Bristol Airport
With Bristol Airport serving roughly 10 million passengers each year, some passengers can suffer a life threatening illness or injury whilst at the airport. On multiple occasions, our crew have had to land at the airport to treat patients that are about to jet off, that have just landed, or that even became ill whilst in the air.
In 2024, we were also called to Cotswold Gliding Club, following a glider crash on the edge of the airfield. This was during a period of time where our usual green helicopter was away for maintenance, meaning we arrived in a replacement red helicopter. Thankfully those involved in the crash were not seriously injured.
7. Outside your house
Stroud
Kingswood
Weston-super-Mare
Our Critical Care Team regularly treat people in their own home. Whether someone has suffered a medical emergency, or seriously injured themselves, we are often having to land in open spaces alongside people's homes to quickly treat those who need our care.
Anyone can suffer a life-threatening illness or injury, anywhere and at anytime. Unfortunately this could mean your neighbour or even someone in your own household could one day require our services.
You never expect it to land near you, until it does...
In 2022, we rushed to the aid of Steve, from Stratton in Gloucestershire, after a serious motorcycle accident left him with such severe injuries that he'd require his leg to be amputated. Steve recalls "I very quickly became aware of the air ambulance coming in to land. I thought, oh dear this must be serious and I felt genuine intrigue as to what was going on.” You can read his story here.
