TV VIEWERS will see this evening how a county councillor had first hand experience of the value of the life-saving health charity he helped to establish.

Cllr John Blackie was involved in the early development of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Helicopter ER this evening at 9pm on the Really channel will show how the YAA answered his call when he had a suspected heart attack at Hawes in Upper Wensleydale.

He was airlifted to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough in 15 minutes.

“The alternative would have been a journey by land of 60 miles on largely country roads,” he said. “It is just one of so many examples of how important the service provided by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance is to the Upper Dales.

“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.”

Hospital staff found he actually had a twisted gut. He had corrective surgery.