Mark Smith was rescued by air ambulance after being hit by a car
- author, Carl Mercer & James W. Kelly
- role, bbc news
The Antiques Roadshow expert whose life was saved by a London air ambulance has joined around 30 MPs in calling on the Prime Minister for alternative funding.
A London air ambulance charity is aiming to raise £15m to buy two new helicopters to replace its existing ones.
MPs from across London have written a joint letter to Jeremy Hunt asking him to provide £3m towards the total cost.
The government has been contacted for comment.
Mark Smith spoke to BBC London near the helipad at London’s Royal Infirmary, where he was previously taken after being hit by a car.
“If I hadn’t been there that day, I wouldn’t be here,” he said.
image source, Getty Images
Air ambulances are primarily funded by charitable donations
“I think I would have been really, really injured. If I had spent 25 minutes Sunday afternoon in the ambulance getting here instead of the few minutes it took, I think things would have been a lot different. ” ”
Mr Smith, who has appeared on Antiques Roadshow for 10 years, said the incident was a “game changer” and that the ambulance rescue had given him a “chance for a fresh start”.
He took part in a campaign by the London Air Ambulance Charity to raise the needed funds.
Smith added, “Now, when I look up, I think there’s a life in the balance. And it’s not just that life that’s affected, it’s the whole family that’s affected.” .
Iain Duncan-Smith said the amount demanded was “relatively small”.
The personnel to staff the air ambulances is provided by the NHS, but funding for the purchase and maintenance of the helicopters has to come from other means.
In 2014, then chancellor George Osborne funded an ambulance replacement.
Former Conservative Party leader and Chingford and Woodford Green MP Iain Duncan-Smith said the sums being sought from the Treasury were “relatively small”.
“Londoners, businesses and individuals will be reaching into their pockets to support this,” he said.