Darwin CareFlight fundraiser graced by Santa’s presence

Among the Christmas festivities and present swapping, one man came to the Careflight Christmas Party to say thanks for the ultimate gift — his life. See the photos.

Sandcastles, treasure hunting, watersliding, and a cameo by Santa were some of the reasons more than a 150 people attended CareFlight’s Christmas fundraiser on Saturday.

But for Lachlan Miller there was a different reason to attend.

“CareFlight saved my life – I had a car crash 10 years ago and I was not looking to survive and (CareFlight) flew me from Darwin to Adelaide (for treatment),” Mr Miller said.

“I’m immensely grateful for them and what they’ve done for me and what they do in the community in saving more people.”

Mr Miller, 31, said he hoped the fundraiser would help the “amazing” CareFlight team’s operations into the future.

“Every dollar counts to go forward to keep this amazing team going, to be saving lives like mine and who knows – maybe your family member in the future or yourself.”

For fundraising manager Joann Rutherford, having CareFlight patients like Mr Miller was a special experience.

“It’s lovely to see because sometimes what happens is you go out, you save someone, they go to a hospital and they have their recovery, but you don’t necessarily get to see what happens six, or 12 months later,” she said.

“So it’s lovely when it circles back around and they come and say, you know, ‘thank you so much for the care you provided’”.

Ms Rutherford said the fundraiser showed Careflight’s value to the community.

“The support, especially here in the Territory, is fantastic,” she said.

“We’re really grateful for the support and it’s lovely how people come up to us and say ‘you looked after my son’ and talk about how we’ve actually changed their life.”

Did someone say Santa?

Accompanied by a Little Helper, Santa gatecrashed the CareFlight fundraising party.

CareFlight held the community fundraising fete at the Darwin Surf Club.

Presents were given for locals eager to meet Father Christmas.

Father Christmas explaining the temperature difference between the Top End and the North Pole.

The water slide was a massive hit with the kids.

More than 100 locals attended the celebration.

Father Christmas said he wish he’d brought his swimmers.

Raffles, sandcastles, treasure hunts, water slides, and an appearance by Santa were among the highlights at the CareFlight fundraiser.

“We’ve been really good this year Santa”.

Originally published as Darwin CareFlight fundraiser graced by Santa’s presence