Coolmore Stud helps keep air ambulance operational: 'We need this service to continue'
Pictured (left to right) at the announcement of three-year funding for The Irish Community Rapid Response Air Ambulance are Maurice Moloney Coolmore, John Kearney CEO Irish Community Rapid Response, John Smullen Coolmore, Michael Lowry TD, Tony Meagher, Pilot, Donna O'Regan Project manager Irish Community Rapid Response, Philomena O'Dwyer Board member, Adian O'Brien Ballydoyle, James Ward Advance Paramedic and Anna O'Brien. Picture: John D Kelly
The renowned Coolmore Stud has announced a three-year funding deal to help keep Ireland’s charity-funded air ambulance in the air.
John Magnier’s Coolmore, one of the world’s largest thoroughbred racehorse breeding operations, and Grand National winner, David Mullins, who was airlifted by HeliMed92 last October after breaking his back in a fall, have also urged other corporate donors to get on board to help the life-saving service.
Details of Coolmore’s three-year financial commitment to Irish Community Rapid Response (ICRR), the charity which runs HeliMed92, were announced at Coolmore’s racing arm, Ballydoyle stables in Tipperary today, the first day of International Air Ambulance Week.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien, whose daughter, Anna, was airlifted by another air ambulance after a fall from a horse a few years ago, was there to see the crew of HeliMed92 accept the donation.
A spokesman for Coolmore said the air ambulance has been called several times to help fallen jockeys, including David Mullins.
“In the horse racing and breeding industry, we are comforted by the knowledge that we can have such high levels of advanced paramedic care at our side in minutes, when we need it most,” he said.
“Prompt pre-hospital care can, and does, make the difference between life and death.
"It is our hope that this multi-year donation will give the air ambulance sustainable income and will encourage other high-level corporate donors to get on board. We need this service to continue and all business leaders across all sectors of Ireland need to get behind it.”
The chair of ICRR’s board of directors, John Finnegan, thanked the Magnier family and said: “The Coolmore brand is instantly recognisable the world over. Having their backing at the launch of International Air Ambulance Week will give other donors the impetus to get behind us.”
Since the ICRR air ambulance service went live in July 2019, from its base near Millstreet in north Cork, it has been tasked to some 575 incidents, including cardiac arrests, road traffic collisions, equine and farm-related incidents and falls from height.
August for the crew of #HeliMed92
— CRITICAL | Emergency Medical Response (@CRITICALcharity) September 1, 2020
54 taskings 📞
41 patients treated 💉
19 patients transported 🏥 by 🚁#Cork #Kerry #Clare #Tipperary #Waterford
Most common type of incident was Road Traffic Collision (RTC) 🚙🚚 🚲
Responded to 8 Cardiac Arrests 💔
Most calls in one shift - 4️⃣ pic.twitter.com/Uo6qILju3f
The service was tasked 54 times in August alone.
Each tasking costs an average of €3,500 but its fundraising has been hit badly by Covid-19.
As part of Air Ambulance week, the charity has appealed to people across Ireland to sign up to become Friends of the Air Ambulance, to visit www.icrr.ie or call 021-4190999 to sign up.
Grand National winner, David Mullins, can still remember the agony after that horror fall and knows the value of the air ambulance service.
“It’s a no-brainer in this country. Many more people should support this service because you’ll never know if you’ll need it like I did,” he said.
Mullins, who won the 2016 Grand National at Aintree aboard Rule The World, was riding in a race at Thurles on October 24 last when his mount fell at the fourth fence. He knew immediately he was in serious trouble.
On-track medical staff rushed to help him, and placed him in the back of an ambulance and alerted the emergency services amid fears he had suffered life-changing injuries.
Mullins recalls writhing in agony and hearing medical staff discussing his possible transfer by road to hospitals in either Clonmel or Limerick, and the possibility of a second road transfer if he required surgery.
The National Ambulance Service decided to task HeliMed92 to the scene.
@davym15 who was injured at Thurles Racecourse and received care from @ICRROfficial represented the Irish Injured Jockeys today alongside Michael Higgins, to show thanks to the charity Air Ambulance with a €12,000 donation. pic.twitter.com/WIGgHe9qS0
— Katie O’ Keeffe (@katieokeeffe97) January 17, 2020
The aircraft landed on the racetrack where its onboard advanced paramedic assessed him and administered powerful medication, before packaging him for an airlift.
He was airlifted to Cork University Hospital (CUH) within 25-minutes where the full extent of his injuries became apparent.
He had fractured his clavicle, smashed his T12 thoracic vertebrae, close to the base of his shoulder blades, and displaced another two vertebrae. He was lucky to escape life-changing injuries.
Mullins said: “To be honest, I didn’t know anything about the helicopter landing. I just saw the air ambulance crew arrive into the back of the ambulance where I was, and they gave me the right pain killers, and the next thing I know I’m in hospital.
“They were just so professional and decisive. They took all the pain away. That personal approach, on top of the air ambulance service itself, especially for back injuries, it’s just a no brainer. The helicopter made everything a lot easier. It has to be the future.”
He underwent hours of emergency surgery in CUH the next day and following months of rehabilitation, he was back racing by February.
Mullins, who helped the Irish Injured Jockeys association present a fundraising cheque to ICRR in January, said he hopes to continue helping to raise funds and awareness about the air ambulance service.
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