Charity ambulance gets to Ukraine despite breakdown

Terry Anderson attempts to 'kick-start' the stranded ambulance

An ambulance full of supplies for Ukraine has arrived in time for a handover in the war-torn country despite breaking down in Germany.

The second-hand vehicle, loaded with apparatus including wheelchairs and crutches, was driven more than 1,300 miles (2,000km) by volunteers from a Rotary club in Northampton.

The ambulance was repaired by a friendly German mechanic and made its way across Poland through the night to hit the deadline.

The Rotary drivers said the charity workers who received the ambulance were "ecstatic".

The ambulance was packed with medical equipment and clothing

The ambulance, bought from a dealer in Birmingham, left Great Doddington in Northamptonshire early on Sunday morning.

Sitting in front were two drivers from the Rotary Club of Northampton Becket, David Smith and Terry Atkinson.

In the back were wheelchairs, crutches, walking frames and winter clothing.

Mr Smith and Mr Atkinson made good progress through France and Belgium but disaster struck in Germany.

The vehicle came to a halt and could not be fixed by the roadside.

The ambulance was towed away to be mended at a Fiat dealership

The drivers watched as the Fiat ambulance and its precious cargo were towed away.

The next challenge was finding a Fiat dealer in a country dominated by Mercedes and Volkswagen, but one was eventually located on Monday evening.

There was more bad news to come from the mechanic, who said it was too late in the day to carry out the repair.

Mr Smith said: "We thought, 'We've lost a complete day here, we're never going to make that 09:30 deadline for Wednesday morning.'

"We left it with him and he told us to come back at 11:00, so we were obviously fairly disappointed."

The ambulance was back on the road on Tuesday morning

The drivers breathed a sigh of relief when they returned to the dealership to find the split hose repaired and the mechanic reassuring them that the ambulance would make it to Ukraine.

With just 22 hours to cover 808 miles (1,300km), Mr Smith and Mr Anderson knew there was only one thing for it - they would have to drive through the night.

Mr Smith said: "What we decided was, we'd do two hours on and two hours off, refuel, grab a coffee, have some sandwiches, and take the coffee to go and drink it on the way.

"It was very nip and tuck because we were very conscious we'd had this breakdown, and the ambulance didn't stop, bless its cotton socks, it went all the way to the border."

Terry Anderson and David Smith made it to the handover in Shehyni, Ukraine

They arrived at the Ukraine border at 02:30 local time and, after a two-hour delay at customs, they made their way to the village where the handover was due to take place with a couple of hours to spare.

Mr Smith said: "We went and grabbed a cup of coffee and thought, 'We've done it.'"

The ambulance was handed over to a representative from a local Rotary club who passed it on to a volunteer driver from a Ukrainian charity.

Mr Smith said: "They were absolutely astounded, they were ecstatic, there were hugs and everything.

"I get emotional thinking about it."