A COUNCILLOR who has been a long-standing advocate of the air ambulance found himself in need of the emergency charity after suffering a suspected heart attack in a remote part of the dales.

North Yorkshire County Councillor John Blackie, an independent councillor for the Upper Dales, was taken ill at his property management company in Hawes recently.

He had been feeling unwell and two customers, who were medical professionals, thought he might be having a heart attack.

Cllr Blackie, who has already had heart bypass surgery and survived two bouts of cancer, was faced with a 60-mile journey by land ambulance to the nearest major trauma centre at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

Despite blustery weather conditions, Yorkshire Air Ambulance was dispatched to the Yorkshire Dales village and airlifted John to hospital in just 15 minutes.

“It was a very windy day but the pilot was prepared to risk it to get to me.

"We took off and although it was a bumpy ride we were at the hospital in just 15 minutes,” said John, 68, from Hardraw.

“The alternative would have been a journey by land of 60 miles on largely country roads.

"It is just one of so many examples of how important the service provided by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance is to the Upper Dales.”

As chair of the county council’s Scrutiny of Health Committee for nine years from 2003, John was involved in the early development of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

He added: “It was almost ironic that having been such a strong advocate of the air ambulance that I should find myself in need of its service and I am just so very grateful that it is here.

“I represent an area which is the country’s most sparsely populated county council division covering 325 square miles and it is in the deeply rural communities within it where there is such an unbreakable bond with the air ambulance service, as it is an asset that we can never afford to lose.”

Cllr Blackie, who has been a county councillor for 20 years, had not had a heart attack, but was found to be suffering from a twisted gut and later underwent successful corrective surgery.

His story can be seen in this week’s episode of Helicopter ER – the UKTV series that follows the life-saving work of Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

The program also features a plumber who badly cut his arm with a Stanley knife and the dramatic rescue of a woman from a car that had careered off an icy road and plunged down a wooded ravine.

Helicopter ER is made by Air Television, run by Ian Cundall, former deputy head of BBC North and The Northern Echo journalist and Andy Joynson, former BBC North health correspondent.

Air Television, based in York, recently won two Royal Television Society awards for their work on the compelling series.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) carries out over 1,250 missions every year and needs to raise £12,000 to fund its emergency service.

Helicopter ER is aired on Monday night at 9pm on Really.