The Irish Community Air Ambulance is crucial in saving lives in rural parts of Kerry.
That’s according to Pat O'Sullivan whose 8-year-old son Padraig fell off a bike and under the wheels of a truck in Valentia Island last month.
The O’Sullivans, who are from Kildare, were holidaying in Kerry at the time.
The nearest road ambulance was 45 minutes away in Killorglin when the accident occurred, so the Irish Community Air Ambulance was called to the scene.
The air ambulance got Padraig to Cork University Hospital in just half an hour:
Pat O’Sullivan says his eight-year-old son’s helmet saved his life.
The helmet was crushed in the accident and he says if his son hadn’t been wearing it, the outcome would have been very different.
Mr O’Sullivan is urging parents to make sure their children always wear a helmet when out cycling: