A STROKE victim has battled against the illness to continue his £117,000 fund-raising effort for the County Air Ambulance.

Keith Lane, who suffered a stroke in February, presented a cheque for this year's money, totalling £7,000, to air ambulance chiefs.

Mr Lane, from Bromyard, thanked kind-hearted donors for their support and said knowing money was continuing to pour in helped him recover.

"It's given me a hell of a boost and helped me to make good progress, I can't emphasise that enough. It will take a while to get better but I will make it in the end with this kind of support I'm sure," said the 63-year-old, who received an MBE earlier this year for his work in the community.

"We had all these wonderful donations coming in. It's absolutely fantastic. Without these large sums this could not have been raised. They need a hell of a big thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Mr Lane was given a framed picture and a paperweight (pictured above), featuring the air ambulance service's new EC135 helicopter, in return for his sterling contribution to the service, which relies totally on charity donations.

"Without the Keiths of this world the helicopters simply wouldn't fly," said County Air Ambulance fund-raising development manager Paul Weir.