At the beginning of October, Newcastle Emlyn plumber Peter Lewis suffered a heart attack.

The Wales Air Ambulance was summoned and he was taken to Morriston Hospital where he received urgent treatment.

His daughter Tracey Wilson says if it was not for the Wales Air Ambulance, her father would have died.

She is now on a mission to raise vital funds for the charity.

“If my father hadn’t been airlifted he wouldn’t have made it," said Tracey.

"By the time we drove to Swansea, dad had already had a stent put in his heart and this saved his life.

"The Wales Air Ambulance relies on donations to keep it going and receives no government funding.

"It costs anything between £1,000 to £1,500 to get the helicopter in the air every time it’s called out and I think it’s really important that people are made aware of the service and how it is run."

To thank the Wales Air Ambulance, Tracey, her family and friends recently held a Bake Sale in Newcastle Emlyn and raised £258.14.

As a registered childminder, Tracey is also organising a sponsored walk for the children she looks after. The walk will see the children going from New Road down to the castle and back.

Peter, a familiar face in the town as a town councillor and deputy mayor is now at home recovering and awaiting a heart bypass in the next six to eight weeks.

He said: “I would like to thank the Wales Air Ambulance for their speedy response and life saving flight to Morriston Hospital, but we mustn’t forget the other health care professionals – the ambulance crew and the hospital staff who work as a team.

"Living in this rural part of Wales, it is reassuring to know that the Air Ambulance Service is available, it’s just such a shame that it isn’t government funded but this vital service relies on donations to exist.”

If anyone would like to sponsor the children on their sponsored walk, there is a sponsor form in GS News in Newcastle Emlyn or a Just Giving page.