A Ceredigion farmer who was given critical care following a crash has raised £9,000 to say thank you to those who saved his life.

Calfyn Jones, 24, from Dihewyd, and his girlfriend Erin Thomas organised a classic car and tractor convoy event earlier this year.

The events raised £9,000 for Wales Air Ambulance and the High Dependency Neuroscience Ward at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

The two organisations delivered ‘life-saving’ care to Calfyn when he had a road accident on 6 February 2022 in a rural area and suffered a traumatic brain injury.

After he was given ‘critical’ care on the side of the road, the air ambulance transported him to Cardiff in 20 minutes, where he spent the next 17 days recovering.

Calfyn’s mum, Anwen Jones said: “He was really, really lucky. I think the fact he was so lucky was because he got critical care on the side of the road, and because he was able to get to the hospital so quickly.

“When we took the cheque to Wales Air Ambulance, someone there said their whole purpose is summed up in Calfyn’s story; they are there to make sure critical care is delivered to the furthest places, and that people can be taken from the furthest places to a hospital where they can make a full recovery.”­

The event was intended as a way for Calfyn to thank the hospital and air ambulance staff. Being a long time fan of classic car and tractor events, Calfyn knew it would be a good way to raise money.

He said: “It was one of those things I enjoy doing in my spare time, I love seeing these classic car and tractor runs so I thought what better way to raise money?

“I put an ad on some of the Facebook car run groups, and so many of them turned up.

“We had 45 tractors and about 60 cars. We had marshals watching the roads and helping traffic flow. More than a hundred people came to watch.

“It took a few months to set everything up, it was worth all of it. I’m very happy with the event and all of the support from locals, sponsors and businesses.

“I organised an auction, food and activities for everyone back in the village, so we raised a lot of money there as well. We sold all sorts of things, all kinds of people donated all kinds of things for us to sell off, we had hampers, gifts, cakes and other things like suits. There was a bit of everything.”

Calfyn is organising another event to take place at the end of April next year.