Life-saving charity Wales Air Ambulance has made its 18,000th emergency flight.

Since launching on St David’s Day 2001, the national charity’s three helicopters, based in Swansea, Welshpool and Caernarfon, has saved the lives of hundreds of people from across Wales.

The charity’s Welshpool team recently passed the mission milestone when treating a 57-year-old man who had suffered a brain haemorrhage.

Operating 365 days a year, the air ambulance responds to around 2,000 missions a year, roughly 20 per cent of which are for children aged 16 or under. Wales Air Ambulance costs £6 million per year to run, all of which is funded thanks to generous donations from the public.

Angela Hughes, chief executive of the Wales Air Ambulance, said the milestone illustrated the importance of the emergency charity.

She said: “Attending 18,000 call outs is a staggering amount, and just goes to show how vital a resource the air ambulance is to the people of Wales.

“We’re proud of the amount of lives we’ve saved over the last 12 years, and can’t thank our generous donors and fundraisers enough for keeping us in the air.”

Of the 18,000 flights the Wales Air Ambulance has made, more than 4,100 were for road traffic collisions, 22 per cent of which involved motorcyclists, 12 per cent cyclists and six per cent pedestrians.

Since 2001 the air ambulance has also attended more than 2,100 sports and leisure injuries. This includes more than 670 incidents involving horse riders, and around 20 per cent of all sports injuries occur on the rugby field.

For more details about Wales Air Ambulance, its work and how you can support it, contact 0844 85 84 999 or visit walesairambulance.com