A Royal Navy aircrewman and paramedic from Caerphilly will be spending his New Year’s Eve at the UK’s busiest helicopter search and rescue unit.
Former St Cenydd School pupil Petty Officer Taff Ashman, is part of a four-man team at HMS Gannet in Prestwick on duty as the country leaves 2010 behind and welcomes in 2011.
Taff, 36, who has completed 12 years of service with the navy, said: “Obviously what we ultimately hope for is that there will be no call outs.
“Not because we’re not ready or we don’t want to do our job, but because, no matter how you look at it, a call out for us equals bad news for someone else.
“But we’re here and ready to help should the worst happen and, as always, we’ll do everything we can to make sure that we get the best outcome – whether that be rescuing someone from a mountain or transferring a seriously ill person to hospital.
“And, if we’re not busy in the air at the bells, I’m sure I’ll manage to give my wife Alison a quick call to wish her and my son Garrin a happy New Year.”
Originally from Caerphilly, Taff joined HMS Gannet at Prestwick in Ayrshire in 2005 and now lives close to the unit in a small village called Minishant.
Covering an area of 98,000 square miles, which stretches from the Lake District in the south to Ben Nevis in the north, Edinburgh and Dundee in the east to Scotland’s west coast highlands and island, as well as Northern Ireland, and 200 miles out into the Atlantic
Gannet’s crew never knows where the next flight will take it.
But those who are partying into the wee small hours welcoming in the New Year can take some reassurance that should they find themselves badly injured or distressed, in an accident or simply extremely unwell, it may well be the Royal Navy’s festive flyers who are dispatched to help them out.