Northampton mum and pals to run half marathon for air ambulance after service saved son’s life

A Northampton mum is gearing up to run a half marathon to say ‘thank you’ to the air ambulance charity after the service saved her son’s life.

Amelia Shouler’s son - Zach Shouler-Jones - was working as a scaffolder in December 2019 when he was crushed between his lorry and a car that hit him from behind.

The then 18-year-old suffered from a femoral arterial bleed, severe trauma to his thigh and limb and threatening injuries to his lower leg, and was airlifted to University Hospital Coventry.

Upon arrival, Zach was taken into emergency surgery to save his leg.

Nearly three years later, Zach is still undergoing treatment for his leg injuries, but his mum says the outcome would have been a lot different if The Air Ambulance was not on hand on the day of the incident.

So the 41-year-old wants to thank the charity for saving her son’s life by raising as much money as possible with a half marathon run around Pitsford Reservoir next Saturday (September 25).

Amelia, from Bugbrooke, said: “We’re just thankful that he is still here. It would have been fatal if the air ambulance wasn’t there.

“So I want to say thanks and raise money for them so they can save someone else’s life too.

“There will be a group of us who run the half marathon, which will be two laps of Pitsford.

“The injuries have had a massive impact on Zach. He used to be very sporty; taekwondo, gymnastics, snowboarding and more.

“Now he can’t run, but he can ride a bike so he will cycle the half marathon with us.”

Amelia, who is a nursery manager, started running when she was 38, but says she hasn’t clocked up many miles over the last two years due to looking after Zach and then lockdown.

She added: “I got to my birthday this year and I thought now is the time to pick the running back up again.

“I struggled to even do a parkrun (five kilometres) so I’m dreading our half marathon run but it’s a case of needs must.

“If we can raise some awareness of how important the service is, it’ll be worthwhile.”

Amelia has set a target for her team to raise £1,700, but the runners are already halfway there so they want to raise even more.

Donate on their JustGiving page here.