GMS Sponsor Natalie’s Saving Lives Challenge

A former patient of two local, lifesaving organisations is undertaking an extreme fundraising challenge for the second time in a bid to raise funds.

In 2018, Natalie Queiroz teamed up with Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity for the Saving Lives Challenge. She raised £10,000 to support the two charities.

Natalie has a deeply personal connection to both charities, as in March 2016, whilst eight months pregnant, she was attacked in Sutton Coldfield and stabbed 24 times. The advanced clinical care that she received thanks to Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s aircrew and the trauma team at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham saved her and her unborn daughter’s lives.

Four years on and Natalie is now taking on her second challenge in aid of the two charities. On Friday 24 July 2020, Natalie, along with fiancé Simon Lyttle, will be walking from Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s RAF Cosford airbase to the scene of her attack in Sutton Coldfield and then on to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. The 37-mile route will replicate the journey that the Midlands Air Ambulance RAF Cosford aircraft made on the day of Natalie’s incident.

Natalie said: “Neither I nor my daughter would be alive today if it were not for the incredible work of Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. Taking on the Saving Lives Challenge in 2018 was amazing and it was fantastic to be able to collaborate with these two lifesaving institutions and raise vital funds to support them and their work.

“This year I want to raise more money for both of these incredible charities and I’d love if people virtually joined me on the challenge by taking on a walk on the same day.”

To help support Natalie’s Saving Lives Challenge 2.0, you can make a donation on the JustGiving website: savingliveschallenge.org all monies raised will be split equally between the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity and Midlands Air Ambulance Charity.

Natalie’s Saving Lives Challenge has been sponsored by Bootcamp Media, Reactive Recruitment, The Gracechurch Shopping Centre and GMS Group.

Find out more about Midlands Air Ambulance Charity by visiting the website at: midlandsairambulance.com and follow the organisation on social media.

To find out more about the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity, visit: www.hospitalcharity.org

Pictured: Natalie and her finance Simon Lyttle, who will also be completing the challenge