"I have my life today because of the air ambulance service"

When Joe Swords set out on a routine journey in his taxi over the St Patrick’s weekend in 2013, little did he realise that he would end up being airlifted to St James Hospital in Dublin for life-saving heart surgery after getting what he describes as "an awful pain" in his chest.

The Offaly father of three grown-up daughters says he is in "no doubt" that he would not be alive if he had not been for the life-saving intervention of the air ambulance team who airlifted him from the north Offaly town of Edenderry to Dublin in a little over ten minutes.

"I have my life today because of the air ambulance service," he emphatically says, a view which is echoed by his wife, Phyl, who adds that the whole family are "eternally grateful" to the personnel who operate the service. "We will never forget them for the rest of our lives it’s just a fantastic service."

Even though it has been nine years since Joe Swords suffered a near-fatal heart blockage on that fateful journey into Edenderry in March 2013, Phyl Swords still sends Christmas wishes to the air ambulance crew who saved her husband’s life, and she says they were "delighted" to have been invited to Baldonnel to share in the tenth anniversary celebrations for the service.

Phyl recalls how she was on her way to Newbridge to receive treatment for her asthma when she got a call from her husband to says he wasn’t feeling well. "I told him to go to the doctor and I turned the car around and started driving home, but I don’t even remember anything about the journey home," she says.

When she got to Edenderry, Phyl was told the air ambulance service was on its way as her husband had suffered "a major blockage" and needed to get to hospital as quickly as possible. "He had been told he wouldn’t make it unless he was airlifted to Dublin, and I couldn’t believe it when I heard the air ambulance was on its way."

"The new road in Carbury was being done at that time, and the road was very bad, so there is no way I would have made it by road to St James hospital in time to save my life," says Joe, "but the air ambulance had me there in about 10 minutes or so, and I had a 100% blockage in one of my arteries, so I had stents put in."

The Swords family had seen the air ambulance crew in action at their local GAA pitch just a few weeks earlier when they were doing "a trial run" of landing their helicopter at the pitch. "Little did we know that day that Joe would end up in the air ambulance a few weeks later," admits Phyl.

Joe Swords says he "retired straight away" from his taxi business after his heart attack, and has been enjoying life with his extended family ever since. "I am in the best of health, thank God, and I have my life today because of the air ambulance service, which is something I am eternally grateful for."

At last week's celebrations in Baldonnel, Joe Swords and members of his extended family were delighted to catch up with one of their neigbours from Greenwoood Park in Edenderry, Corporal Paul Kelly, who is attached to the 105 Squadron (Photographic section) of the Air Corps.

Paul, who joined the Defence Forces on September 1, 1997, has completed a number of missions with the air ambulance crew in his capacity as an official photographer. However, he admits that it "can be difficult" to capture the work the crew undertakes due to the sensitive nature of the job, but feels is is very important that the vital work undertaken by the crew is captured and preserved.

"I always had an interest in photography so when I joined the Defence Forces I did a number of different photography courses" he says, adding that "no two days are the same" in the photographic section. "I cover the whole range, from going up with the air ambulance crew, to taking passport photos, working at a passing out parade or some other ceremonial occasion, I never know what the next day is going to bring, so it is very varied and interesting."

Having completed six overseas tours of duty with the Defence Forces, Corporal Kelly says he "enjoys Army life" and is planning to continue working for another few years, even though he has completed his mandatory 21 years of service.

"Days like today when you see all the families who are so grateful to the air ambulance service for saving the lives of their loved ones makes the job worthwhile," he says.