Brew for Moo raises more than £51,000 for GNAAS

Max, who sadly passed away in April last year, would have celebrated his 16th birthday on 12 August. 

 To honour his memory, Max’s owner Kerry Irving, from Keswick, invited hundreds of people to join him on a walk to Tewet Tarn which was one of Max’s favourite places.  

 Among those taking part in the walk, which is called Brew for Moo, was Grace Gardiner, 16, whose life was saved by the critical care team at GNAAS when she was only four months old. 

 In February 2007, Grace had a Meckel’s diverticulum with intussusception which is a blockage in her bowel. 

 Her mother Helen Gardiner had driven Grace from their home in Penrith to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, however after arriving at the hospital, Grace’s health became progressively worse, and she needed to go to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle for treatment. 

 Unfortunately, there were no viable options available to transfer Grace due to how critically ill she was, but by chance the team from GNAAS were at the same hospital, so they offered to airlift her. 

Grace has since made a full recovery and 16 years later the mother and daughter shared their story with Kerry, a charity ambassador for GNAAS, on his Facebook page called Max Out in the Lake District. 

 Kerry broadcasts his daily walks with his springer spaniels live on Facebook and has used his platform to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity. 

 They joined Kerry on his most recent charity walk and Grace generously donated the tips she earned from her job to support GNAAS, which was £300. 

 Helen said: “Grace has obviously been aware of GNAAS all her life but her decision to donate her tips, from the Clickham Inn, was a very personal one.  

“If it hadn’t had been for the air ambulance, she just wouldn’t be here.” 

Despite the rain, there was a large turnout at Brew for Moo, and the critical care team from GNAAS landed their aircraft at the event to greet the walkers, including GNAAS paramedic Lee Salmon who treated Grace when she was just a baby. 

Kerry said: “We had a fantastic day and the funds we’ve all raised together in memory of Max is incredible and far exceeded what I was expecting. 

“The weather didn’t detract from our dog walk, and it was great to see so many happy smiling faces and happy dogs enjoying the outdoors and making new friends. 

“Thank you so much to everyone who supported the event through ticket sales and donations, in total we’ve raised more than £51,000.