Wedding day role thanks to GNAAS

THE daughter of the first man to receive a blood transfusion outside of hospital in the North of England is running a marathon to thank the lifesaving Great North Air Ambulance Service. Jill Dempster said that without the air ambulance helicopter team's support, her dad - then 58 - would not have lived to walk her down the aisle at her wedding.

- By SAM VOLPE

In January 2015, her dad, John McNeil, had been involved in a horrific collision on the Al at Berwick which saw his work van collide with an oncoming lorry. He suffered fractures to his collarbone, hip, both legs, chest and back - along with collapsed lungs and scalp lacerations.