Gary’s watercolours fundraiser for lifesaving charity that came to his aid

A former Wales Air Ambulance patient has donated his artwork to be sold in one of the Charity’s shops as a thank you for its medics coming to his aid.

Gary Crosby, 60, from Swansea, decided to give some of his watercolour paintings to the Wales Air Ambulance after an air ambulance air lifted him to Morriston Hospital when he fell and fractured his spine 20 years ago.

The dad-of-two said: “Many years ago the air ambulance flew me to hospital when it was too difficult to reach me by road. I fell and fractured my spine. A friend called an ambulance which arrived and assessed me and decided it would be best to fly me to Morriston Hospital. So the air ambulance was called.

“I think that the Wales Air Ambulance is a vital service. It relies on public donations and we should all do our best to support the service. You never know when you may need them.”

Gary, who had a compression fracture of the spine leading to permanent spinal cord damage, underwent surgery a couple of years after his accident, which eventually left him using a powered wheelchair full-time and in lots of pain.

He added: “I went through several years of depression. On my 50th birthday, my wife bought me a box of watercolours to try to help to give me a focus. So I went onto YouTube and taught myself how to paint. Eventually I had so many paintings and was looking to do some good with them. I was asked if I would donate a painting to a veterans charity to raise money for servicemen and women suffering from PTSD.”

Gary decided to donate 94 paintings, which had taken him two years to paint, and he raised over £1,400 in just two hours during an exhibition.

Gary has donated numerous paintings to the Wales Air Ambulance Swansea City Centre charity shop in College Street and around ten have already been sold.

He said: “I expect to continue my support of the Wales Air Ambulance, among other good causes, for a long time to come.”

Jane Griffiths, Community Fundraiser for the Wales Air Ambulance, said: “Gary has painted some wonderful watercolours and we’re delighted that he has donated his paintings to raise funds for the charity that came to his aid. The paintings are beautiful, and we cannot begin to thank Gary enough for his incredible generosity in creating his watercolours for the Wales Air Ambulance. He has already raised money for different charities and he plans on donating further paintings to good causes in the future, which is so inspiring.”

You can find out more about Gary’s watercolours by visiting his Facebook page – Watercolour my way.

Alternatively, a £5 text-message donation can be made by texting the word HELI to 70711.