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16
Jan 2022
John Shackleton, 83, hoping to deliver one final ambulance to Eastern Europe
83-year-old Harrogate legend John Shackleton has a twinkle in his eye when he considers one last trip delivering ambulances to Eastern Europe, something he's done through his charity Aid to Eastern Europe for over 30 years.
If you're not familiar with John's work, he's been delivering ambulances to hospices and hospitals in Eastern Europe since 1990. He started after seeing upsetting TV images of orphans in Romania following the death of dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu.
He's since delivered 38 ambulances to an exhaustive list of countries, including Albania, Kazakstan, Armenia, Slovenia and Bulgaria.
To raise money to buy the vehicles, John chops down trees, cuts lawns, mends bicycles — anything to raise the £12,000 to £15,000 it costs to purchase an ambulance — which he usually buys from auction in Amsterdam.
He said:
Harrowing scenes
John is moved to tears when he describes the harrowing scenes of human suffering that he's witnessed, but is comforted by the knowledge that he has helped people less fortunate than us in Harrogate.
Many of the countries he's visited have been riddled with poverty after the fall of the Soviet Union.
He said:
Show no fear
John has endured the trials and tribulations of the road and has clocked up tens of thousands of miles. He's faced bribes, bandits and gunfire.
In Turkey, he said he expected to have to pay a bribe but the police wanted him to cough up the value of his ambulance, so he refused.
He and his co-drivers were thrown in an underground jail cell with a bucket for a toilet.
John said his team was beginning to panic.
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The right stuff
Driving through Russia, John was warned of bandits and not to stop during the night. He came across a roadblock with lights flashing so he had to think quickly.
John has had UK police officers, and his grandkids, as part of his crew, although not every co-driver that has signed up has joined with the right stuff.
He added:
Helping others
When the Stray Ferret visited John at his house in Harrogate, he had his head under the bonnet putting a new engine in his kit car, which he first built over 50 years ago. He said by spring he'll have it going again.
John has been a bomb disposable expert, mountaineer, greengrocer, a housing fixer upper and he ran an art studio. His rich life experience has given him a practical and positive outlook.
Most of all, John is known for putting other people before himself, and as the Stray Ferret left his home, he told us he's pencilled in September as a possible date to deliver his 39th ambulance to those who desperately need one in Eastern Europe.
To donate and help John buy a new ambulance, email johnshackleton@aidtoeasterneurope.co.uk
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