LAST month Cornwall Air Ambulance undertook its 26,000th mission since it began as the UK’s first air ambulance service in 1987.

The milestone mission was to aid a toddler who had injured his head in a fall from a wall in Boscastle while on holiday.

The paramedic aircrew was the first on scene and flew the little boy and his mother to North Devon District Hospital in 22 minutes.

Paula Martin, chief executive of Cornwall Air Ambulance said: “Cornwall Air Ambulance receives no government funding for rescue missions so the charity’s supporters can be extremely proud to have enabled more than 26,000 missions to be undertaken. For the last 29 years their generosity has helped our paramedics to save thousands of lives.”

Throughout an extremely busy July and August Cornwall Air Ambulance was called to more than 170 missions throughout Cornwall, more than 20 of which were for children and babies.

The St Austell area saw 14 missions, eight of which were for patients suffering medical emergencies while one mission aided a motorcyclist injured in a road traffic collision.

Other traumatic injuries in this area include a toddler who had injured his leg while cycling, a horse rider who had fallen and a lady who had sustained head injuries from a fall to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

Cornwall Air Ambulance was tasked to seven missions in Newquay, including the tragedy, which saw a family swept by large waves into the harbour.

The aircrew treated family members on scene and flew the father to Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.

The majority of the summer’s missions were to aid patients who had been injured through accidents. Falls were the most common cause and these include a lady kicked by a horse in Mitchell and a visitor thrown from a horse in Newquay.

A toddler in Port Isaac was airlifted to Treliske Hospital in Truro following a fall, another toddler needed help following a fall in Newquay and a lady who had fallen down stairs was flown to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

Road traffic collisions increased in number over the summer, one of which resulted in a lady in Liskeard having to be flown to Derriford and another in an elderly man being airlifted to Truro from Wadebridge.

Next year Cornwall Air Ambulance celebrates 30 years of saving lives.

To find out more about the charity’s life-saving work visit www.cornwallairambulancetrust.org