Thundersley woman's marathon for air ambulance who saved her dad

Natalie Hazelden is taking on the London Marathon this year in honour of the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance, who saved her father Lee's life following a scooter crash right before the Covid pandemic.

Mr Hazelden, 52, was flown to hospital after suffering devastating injuries on his right hand side, with a broken hip, arm and ribs plus a collapsed lung.

He also had to have surgery to remove some of his large intestine that had died, and there was internal bleeding on his liver.

Family - Natalie with dad Lee Hazelten

The doctors also had to give Mr Hazelden an emergency operation on his aorta - the main heart artery - to put in a stent.

However, a year later he is in a much better state and could make a full recovery. His daughter Natalie, 26, from Thundersley, said this would not be possible without the air ambulance.

She said: "The next 24 hours - and more - became a completely surreal time for the family. Myself and many of us never experiencing this kind of fear and dread in our lives.

"As soon as it happened the air ambulance were quick to get to the scene. If they hadn't have got there dad may not have survived.

"He's not 100 per cent now but he's walking and talking, he's the same person.

Happy - Lee was seriously injured in the crash

"There was a worry about brain damage, but he's still very much the same dad."

The crash between Mr Hazelden's scooter and a four by four vehicle has since been deemed an accident and there have been no criminal proceedings.

READ MORE: 'Stop serious crashes, be police's extra eyes to save lives'

Natalie is now looking to raise £2,200 for the air ambulance - the cost of one emergency flight - as a thanks for saving her dad's life.

She said: "I took up running around June of 2020, being a yoyo runner for years and fed up with indoor workouts, it gave me the mental health boost and structure I needed around corona and dad's recovery.

Training - Natalie began running in June 2020

"I started setting myself goals, ten kilometres, ten kilometres in under an hour, a half marathon, and now my next big goal is the marathon , something this time last year I wouldn’t have dreamed of achieving.

"I'm so happy that the air ambulance have been kind enough to offer me a place."

The marathon will take place on October 3.

To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/natalie-hazelden.

Running - Natalie Hazelten is running the London Marathon