Monday 10th July 2017 – 5pm – Jamie Arrowsmith.
A Shropshire Paramedic is hoping to avoid creating his own real-life emergency, despite preparing to drive halfway across the world in a car that he describes as ‘dreadful’.
To raise money for the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, Ed Hullah is attempting to travel from Salop to Saigon in his own 2004 Volkswagen Polo – but admits he is not sure how far it will get.
The adventure is to be completed in two parts with Ed setting the wheels in motion on Saturday (15th July) when he will begin a journey that will see him drive through Eastern Europe and Russia before arriving in Mongolia. He will then drive home again before having the car shipped out next year to continue the journey through China, Laos and Cambodia before arriving in Vietnam.
That is the plan anyway. How smoothly things will run, and how far the car will get him awaits to be seen.
Looking ahead to the trip, Ed, from Bucknell, said: “I have zero mechanical knowledge or experience, which I hope will give me the opportunity to interact with local people of foreign nations.
“Along the way, I will rely on human goodwill to get myself out of any mishaps I have, such as break downs or getting the car stuck in the desert. I’m sure there will be other mishaps that I haven’t planned for, too.
“If and when the car gives up on me, which I fully expect it will, I’ll set out on foot and head cross-country to reach the destination by any means.”
Ed and has funded the entire trip himself, in order to ensure that every penny raised as part of the fund-raising drive goes to the Midlands Air Ambulance. As part of the fund-raising, a raffle is being held with a £500 prize on offer. Each ticket requires the entrant to guess how many miles the car will go before he cannot travel any further in it. To buy a ticket, please visit www.raffle2saigon.com.
In order for people to follow Ed’s progress, live satellite tracking is to be installed on the car which can be viewed by visiting www.salop2saigon.com. You can also keep up to date with all of the latest news by searching for Salop2saigon on Instagram and Facebook.
Ends
Notes to Editors:
If used, please credit the images to West Midlands Ambulance Service.