9-year-old’s thank you song to the Cornwall Air Ambulance for helping her mum
Watch Graham Lewis' report
A mother who is currently receiving end of life care is appealing for a song her 9-year-old daughter has written to be shared as widely as possible.
Young Isla Grandison wrote the song in tribute to the work of paramedics on board Cornwall’s Air Ambulance, who’ve helped to prolong her mother's life by flying her to hospital three times.
Isla was inspired to write the song after watching the love and care her mum received from Cornwall Air Ambulance.
She’s called it ‘Flying High’ and has already raised more than five thousand pounds for the charity.
Isla said: “I did it because they saved my mum's life. Lots and lots of times. And when I found out that they were a charity I decided to raise money for them to help them keep flying and saving people's lives and mum's life.”
Isla’s mum Carrie has a number of conditions including a very acute form of asthma.
She’s also had sepsis 30 times and numerous blood clots.
She spoke to ITV News West Country from her hospital bed at the Royal Cornwall Hospital and said: “The song evolved as her emotions have evolved really.
“It's been a way for her to kind of find a focus, some kind of positivity, which is just in Isla’s nature really, find positives in the negative. And it's given her that kind of drive to get to what's been ultimately a really, really rocky journey.”
With Carrie in hospital, Isla is cared for by her grandfather, Anton, or ‘Dadaw’ as the family call him.
As a retired professional musician, Anton helped put the song together in his recording studio at the family home in Whitemoor, near St Austell.
He said: “Having nearly witnessed your mum passing away is obviously very difficult, quite traumatic.
"And so the gratitude for seeing these ambulances, air ambulances land and the happiness that they have kept her alive is what resonates in the lyrics of her song.”
Tim Bunting, Chief Executive of Cornwall Air Ambulance said: “Hearing it for the first time really genuinely brought it to my eye - and I know everybody else in the room when we were listening to it.
"So for her to come forward and decide to try and help the people that helped her mum is fantastic.”
The family are now looking at releasing the song and encouraging people to donate to the Air Ambulance charity.