Red Dwarf star helps save a life

Share this story with your favourite social / bookmarking site.

A star of TV’s Red Dwarf helped bikers to raise almost £2,000 for the Air Ambulance after a fellow rider was left fighting for his life.

 

Danny John-Jules, who played The Cat in the BBC sitcom, took his infamous pink R1 Yamaha on a few parade laps of Brands Hatch and signed autographs.

 

The keen motorcyclist agreed to support the life-saving helicopter after it airlifted a biker who was seriously injured in a crash at the circuit in July.

 

Each flying mission costs between £1,500 and £2,000 so the sum raised is enough to help the Air Ambulance to potentially save a life.

 

Danny said: “To save one life is amazing because at the end of the day it could be a family member or a friend. There’s no such thing as a small amount of life-saving.

 

“It was good to see all these guys racing round in the pouring rain with their pink T-shirts on. Talk about dedication and loyalty, it was just un-believable.

 

“Despite the weather, everyone had a grin on their face which isn’t easy when you’ve got to ride round what looked like a swimming pool. I went round the track and it was treacherous.”

 

Craig Jennings was taking part in the first Norfolkline Yamaha Past Masters race of the day when he crashed.

 

It took the Surrey Air Ambulance just eight minutes to airlift Craig to Queen’s Hospital in Romford. He was later transferred to his local hospital where he is now out of a coma.

 

Craig’s friends wore pink T-shirts over their leathers on October 3 to raise vital funds for the Air Ambulance which needs £1.7m a year to keep the helicopter flying.

 

All 150 T-shirts with Craig’s racing number 94 on the back were sold with £5 from each sale going to the charity.

 

Organiser Tony Buchan said: “It was quite a spectacle for our last meeting and everyone seem to get in on the act.

 

“Craig’s family were quite overwhelmed by it all ands his wife came over and thanked Danny for his efforts. It was a bit emotional but it was never going to be anything but that.”

 

John-Jules, 50, is best known for playing The Cat in Red Dwarf but has also appeared in films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Blade II.

 

If you would like to make a donation to the Air Ambulance please call 01622 833833. Alternatively cheques can be made payable to Surrey Air Ambulance and posted to Wheelbarrow Park Estate, Pattenden Lane, Marden, Kent, TN12 9QJ