Over the next few weeks and months, you will see Lucy Air Ambulance for Children’s brand change to celebrate an incredibly special little girl, Emilia Schoennagel, whom the world sadly lost unexpectedly in September 2022.
Soon, we will no longer be called ‘Lucy Air Ambulance for Children’, which stands for ‘Life-changing Urgent Care for the Young’. Emilia, lovingly called Lia, was a creative, sparky, caring young girl, and going forward our charity will continue and grow in her name.
Lia lived her short life to the fullest but suddenly passed away, aged only five years. Her death has deeply affected those of us who knew and loved her. Driven by the loving determination of her family that something good would come out of this awful tragedy, Lia’s parents, Patrick and Melissa, as well as Lucy AAC’s Board of Trustees and staff team, want Lia’s prematurely-ended life to be the catalyst for change at our small charity.
After 12 years of changing children’s lives, our charity has built a strong reputation for hospital air transfers for children here in the UK and, increasingly, abroad. We also support families in the weeks, months and years that follow the need for such a transfer. However, Lucy Air Ambulance for Children has outgrown almost everything it was created to achieve. We can now be and do so much more.
Lia’s parents, Patrick and Melissa, have decided to channel their love for their daughter and their support of Lucy AAC, to raise significant funds for our charity to expand our work. Thanks to Lia’s legacy, in the future we will be able to:
Fund more life-changing air transfers to ensure children can access the critical care they need.
Expand our family care package so that the whole family is supported whilst their child is in hospital.
Continue to develop our partnership with the NHS to be an influential voice for families whilst their child is in hospital.
Provide training for more medical staff to help grow our service further.
Lia is transforming our charity.
Today, on what would have been Lia’s sixth birthday, we wanted to share this news with you and let you know that we will be going into the next chapter of our charity’s evolution with a new identity and expanded purpose.
Lia’s character, memory and love of life will live on through our charity’s work. She will always be at the heart of this charity and we will continue to save and change children’s lives in her name.
Thank you Lia and happy birthday.
If you would like to make a donation in Lia’s name so we can help more families, please click the donate button below.
