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BMW 1 “Henry John Surtees”
We were delighted in 2021 to welcome our new BMW 1250 RTP to our fleet, as our new BMW 1 which will proudly bear the name “Henry John Surtees”
This new bike was provided by grant funding from the Henry Surtees Foundation who provided funding to Cornwall Air Ambulance for the critical training of their HEMS team.
Ian Butler worked alongside their Fundraising team to secure an award to ourselves for our part in the Blood on Board Project resulting in the new BMW 1250 RTP.
This project for CBB had been in the background for 18 months, and began on the 1st December 2020.
Once this project was given the go ahead for full trial and research there was much to consider.
The HEMS team would have to be given specialist critical care training specialising in blood transfusions, a costly process, of which was kindly funded by The Henry Surtees Foundation.
Research and discussion was carried out with other ambulance trusts within the UK who operate a similar service, as only one third of all Air Ambulances carry blood on board.
The key to all this project was to have NO wastage and to have a constant cycle every 24 hours to conserve precious stocks.
Storage would be most effective in specialist Credo Pro Med Boxes (used by other Air Ambulance Trusts) and this product had been designed to maintain a consistent internal temperature between 2-6 degrees C for a maximum of 34 hours.
To give an idea, the budget allocated to the project from the Cornwall Air Ambulance was between £16,000-£20,000.
To purchase the six Credo boxes alone was at a cost of £3,000.
Thankfully the budget was derived from a combination of fund-raising and grant applications.
I know John Surtees has been a superhero for many of our volunteers.
The Henry Surtees Foundation was founded by motor sport legend John Surtees CBE, following the tragic death of his son Henry, killed aged just 18 years, whilst competing in Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch in 2009.
Their mission statement is “Saving Lives, saving Time”
Their primary objective is to assist people with brain or physical injuries caused by accident to return to community living by the provision of support for equipment and facilities. They do this by partnering with individuals and other charitable organisations.
They also seek to provide education and training associated with motorsport-related programmes in technology, engineering, and road safety instruction for two and four wheels.
They have funded other Air Ambulance projects by leasing motorbikes to the Blood Bike charity to assist in providing the Blood on Board service but have never outright purchased a motorcycle.
For the The Henry Surtees Foundation, this was a special project.
They felt that they wanted to fund solely the motorbike due to Cornwall being the home of the UK’s very first Air Ambulance, hence why we felt it appropriate for such a significant contribution to offer them the opportunity to name this motorcycle.
BMW 1 went operational on the 4th June 2021 when Ian Butler; CBB Fundraising Manager rode this magnificent motorcycle away from Ocean BMW, Falmouth and up to the Cornwall Air Ambulance base at Newquay, where we were warmly welcomed by the staff and critical care paramedics and waiting there was some very special guests:-
Zak; A Cornish teenager was the first person to receive a lifesaving blood transfusion at the scene of an incident thanks to a new partnership between medical services in the county.
Within just three days of the service launching, 17-year-old Zack Hancock received an emergency transfusion on the roadside following a serious road traffic collision at St Tudy, which left him with life-threatening injuries.
Donna Jewell, Zack’s mother, said: “To see Zack lying on the road with so many people working on him was awful, he was unrecognisable. Police told me to say goodbye to him, they didn’t think he would survive the journey to hospital. Without this service, I would not have a son. The care he received from everyone has been amazing.”
You may notice on all our motorcycles and van that branding was added to show the special collaboration between two Cornish charities and as this project now enters into its fifth year for 2025 the statement still stands true.
This will be very special as our charity celebrates our 10 year anniversary operating as CBB.
This bike at the beginning of 2025 has 61,000 miles on the clock and will still continue turning its wheels for very special reasons.