Friends and family raise £25,000 in memory of officer
NEARLY £25,000 has been raised by friends, family and colleagues of a police officer killed in a road accident two years ago
Pc Russ Wylie died following a head-on collision with a car on a bend on the B1362 near Burstwick, Holderness, in April 2015.
The popular 28-year-old, who was engaged to be married, was airlifted to hospital by Yorkshire Air Ambulance but died the next day.
All the money raised in a series of fundraising events and on a Police Federation JustGiving Page is going to Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
Pc Wylie’s father John Wylie said: “We know Yorkshire Air Ambulance does a fantastic job and give people the best possible chance by getting them to hospital so quickly.
“We have been very moved and touched by how many people have made donations in Russ’s memory – from friends and colleagues, but also people who did not even know him.
“There have been 890 separate donations on the Police Federation Just Giving page – including a police motorcyclist in the Cayman Islands and the daughter of a policeman killed on duty in America.”
Two of his closest friends, Ben Holmes and Mike Woodford, formed the Wylie Coyote Road Runners and, with 13 others including Pc Wylie’s fiancee Roxanne Hennebery, raised nearly £4,000 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance after tackling the gruelling 43-mile Keswick to Barrow race in the Lake District.
Mr Holmes, a retained fire fighter and engineer at BAE Systems in Brough, added: “Russ and I had been great friends since primary school. He was a funny, kind and caring person – just a great bloke – and his loss has impacted everyone who knew him.
“As a firefighter, I’ve worked alongside the air ambulance on a few occasions and witnessed the great work they do.”
The independent charity operates two helicopters from Nostell Priory, near Wakefield, and RAF Topcliffe, near Thirsk, and average about three incidents every day.