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‘We owe air ambulance everything’: Brothers take on 250-mile challenge after medics save daughter’s life following Highland crash

Men standing before a helicopter with one sitting in a kayak
Brothers Tom, in kayak, and Michael, standing right, are joined by SCAA crew - pilot Captain Al Byers and paramedics John Pritchard and Gillian Thomson.

A Dornoch man and his brother will undertake a 250-mile expedition to raise funds for an air ambulance charity who saved his 11-year-old daughter’s life.

Tom Hanratty’s daughter Keira was severely injured in a near fatal head-on road accident near Roybridge in 2017.

Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance was one of the first responders on the scene to provide help at the scene.

Mr Hanratty believes the speed, professionalism and expert care of the air resources sent to the accident scene that day undoubtedly saved Keira’s life.

The brothers have already raised about £2,000 in donations for the challenge, which is expected to take 14 days in May.

‘A remarkable recovery’

Mr Hanratty and his brother Michael, who run Carnegie Whisky Cellars in Dornoch, are set to take on a gruelling 250-mile walking and kayaking challenge across Scotland to raise funds for the charity air ambulance.

He said: “Keira was critically injured in that accident and required speedy transfer to hospital and life-saving surgery. Our family owes the air ambulance service everything for saving my daughter.

“Nearly six years on, she’s made a remarkable recovery although she still has scarring and suffers from anxiety in the car.

“The fact that we have her with us, however, is thanks to the amazing work of the air ambulances and their crews.”

‘Ease the suffering of others’

The brothers have now started training in preparation for the challenge, with Michael stressing they will be isolated throughout their journey.

He said: “Although we will rendezvous with a support vehicle to collect or deposit our kayaks at various places, we will be very much on our own.

“We aim to complete 20 miles a day when walking and 15 miles a day on water. We will be carrying 20kg packs, camping out each night and the midges will be horrendous but we’ll be ready for it.

“This trip will be gruelling and exhausting – with lots of challenges along the way – but if we have to suffer for 14 days to help SCAA ease the suffering of others, then it’s all worthwhile.

Tom and Michael, who are originally from Musselburgh in East Lothian, will start their journey from their former primary school – Pinkie St Peter’s.

Inside the Carnegie Whisky Cellars in Dornoch.

They will then walk to the Lochrin Canal basin in Edinburgh before kayaking the entire Union Canal to Falkirk and the Forth and Clyde Canal to Torrance.

Afterwards, they will spend five days walking the West Highland Way to Fort William before taking to the kayaks again for the Great Glen Canoe Trail.

The final part of their epic journey will see them walking the John O’Groats Trail before a kayak across the Dornoch Firth and a short walk to the Carnegie Whisky Cellars.

Tom and Michael will be funding their entire trip themselves but are appealing for support from businesses and members of the public through their High Road To Dornoch Facebook and Just Giving pages.

SCAA community fundraising officer Claire Taylor said the charity was “extremely grateful” to the Hanratty family and “can’t thank them enough for their support.”

Conversation