Council workers set for Congress abseil
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A council worker rescued by a helicopter after falling from
a roof is to abseil down the Congress Theatre to raise money for the Sussex Air
Ambulance.
Highways inspector Tim Long, 34, was flown to
He fractured his spine and sternum and was signed off work
for a year but has since made a full recovery.
The accident happened on the Potts Marsh industrial estate
in Westham in October, 1999, while he was working as a steel erector.
He said: “I was working on a roof and we were refurbishing a
building when I fell through a skylight and broke my back.
“A lot of people were quite surprised that I survived. I was
wearing a safety harness but it wasn’t attached to anything unfortunately.
“My last memory was disappearing through the skylight and
thinking, ‘Oh dear, this isn’t very good’,
“I recall coming round and one of my colleagues coming down
to the pit where I landed.
“I can’t remember anything about the ride in the helicopter
because I was pretty much out of it. I’d had a good dose of morphine at that
point.”
Tim, from Meads, was rescued by the police helicopter as the
Sussex Air Ambulance was not launched until 2007.
He picked the life-saving charity as one of three to benefit
from council fundraising after hearing how it costs £1.7m-a-year to run the
service.
He added: “I think the Air Ambulance is fantastic and if it
wasn’t there a lot of people who have serious accidents would not recover to
the extent that they do.”
Tim, a former
Following his accident, he re-trained and studied a degree
in civil engineering before joining the Town Hall last year.
He will be lowering 60 fellow council workers off the
40ft-high Congress Theatre during the two-day abseiling event on May 8 and 9.
He is also hoping to persuade new chief executive Robert
Cottrill to step off the council-owned building in
Cash raised from the event will be shared among the Sussex
Air Ambulance, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and disability charity Scope.
The council’s cleansing contracts manager, Paul Marsden,
will also be running the London Marathon.
To sponsor Tim and his team, call Eastbourne Borough Council
on 01323 410000.
If you would like to become a volunteer for the Sussex Air
Ambulance, call county fundraiser
