Harrogate’s John Shackleton, 83, is hoping to deliver an ambulance to war-torn Ukraine in September.

Local hero John has delivered almost 40 ambulances to hospices and hospitals in Eastern Europe since 1990 through his charity Aid to Eastern Europe.

He is no stranger to Ukraine, having previously delivered ambulances there in 2014 and 2016. He described it as “such a beautiful country”.

He said if the situation with the war improves, he will buy an ambulance from auction in Amsterdam and drive into Ukraine so it can be used by people injured in the conflict.

If he’s not able to enter the country, he has a backup plan to deliver the ambulance to a hospice in Georgia.

John said:

“Its very sad, I’ve been trying to contact my pals there but haven’t been able to get through. The situation is terrible.

“Ukrainians are exceedingly friendly, lovable people and they are very devoted to their country. They are so powerful in their thinking, they will die for their country”.

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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.

But he is currently under doctor’s orders to rest after suffering a heart attack last month.

It happened while he was chopping a tree down at the Oval in Harrogate last month whilst he had his chainsaw in hand.

Fortunately, he had his team with him and they took him straight to Harrogate District Hospital.

Amazing adventures

In January, The Stray Ferret met John at his home to discuss his amazing charity adventures and life.

Since then, he’s been featured on BBC News and had offers from Japanese, German and Gibraltar TV to come on his next trip.

He added:

“I don’t know how to deal with this, never had this publicity!”