Wales Air Ambulance has carried out its 19,000^th mission since the service was launched in 2001.

The landmark mission comes as the charity celebrates its 13^th birthday this month. The specialist aircrew went to their very first mission on St David’s Day 2001, airlifting a young rugby player from Glyn Neath.

Swansea-based crew were called to an adult male with central chest pains while walking high in the snow-covered Brecon Beacons, near Talybont reservoir.

The helicopter landed on scene at 12:48 and the patient was diagnosed as having a heart attack. The conditions were so cold and exposed that the crew flew him to lower ground for immediate treatment, before heading to the specialist cardiac unit at UHW Cardiff in just six minutes.

Clinical and operations manager Jason Williams said: “This mission really demonstrates how important the air ambulance is: we were able to reach the mountains, which were covered in snow, in 15 minutes and get the patient to the care he needed. When someone is having a heart attack, every second counts and the helicopter saved precious time.”

The crew coordinated the mission with the local mountain rescue team.