Rutland Air Ambulance, Simon Le Bon, Le Bon, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire

His face could be found on almost every teenage girl???s wall back in the 1980s.But now he???s going from Planet Earth into the skies with his latest project.Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon has just become an ambassador for The AirAmbulance Service based at Coventry Airport.The independent service, which costs ??10million per year to run, is funded entirelyby public donations. It provides a rapid-response helicopter emergency medical service to the counties of Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and the Milton Keynes area. The service is run together with the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance. And later this year, it will also include the Children???s Air Ambulance, which will be used to transport seriously ill children to specialist units for treatment countrywide. The star said: I'm very proud to be associated with The Air Ambulance Service. They have wonderful, highly trained staff and it???s a cause that???s very worthy of our attention and money." The cause is particularly close to the star???s heart, after a yachting accident in 1985. In fact, it is thanks to an air ambulance that Le Bon is still here today. He said: "I can remember every nanosecond of what happened. I was competing in the Fastnet yacht race along the coast of Cornwall and we lost the keel of the boat. "The boat turned upside down, 20 people were thrown in the water and six were still inside the boat, myself included. "Our lives were seriously in danger as we were miles away from the shore. "To escape, a diver had to come down as there were hundreds of ropes caught around the boat. "It was a challenging experience and one which frightened me after the event. I consider myself very lucky and owe my life to them."13th April 2012"