Man raises cash for charitythat tried to save brother

PC Mark Goodlad was helping a stranded motorist on the motorway near Wakefield when he was hit by a lorry that veered onto the hard shoulder.

Emergency service staff from the Yorkshire Air Ambulance airlifted him to hospital and fought desperately to save the 41-year-old’s life, but he died of his injuries.

It was their heroic effort that inspired Andrew Goodlad, 45, to raise money in memory of his brother.

He said: “They did everything and anything they could to try to save his life on that motorway.”

Andrew Goodlad and his brother were both born in Dewsbury. Mark spent nearly 40 years in the town before moving to Goole two years before he died.

Andrew held a fundraising event in November last year at the Morton House Club in Thornhill Lees, where he is secretary and Mark was a member, and more than £1,700 was raised for the air ambulance, which relies on donations to keep going.

Andrew had considered raising money for police dog training, as Mark was due to train as a dog handler, but after reading about the £10,000 it costs to keep their helicopters in the air, decided to support the Yorkshire charity.

“It is a charity that sits in the background until you need them,” he added. “You just don’t necessarily think about it.”

Last Friday he presented a cheque to Kerry Garner, a regional fundraiser for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Andrew plans to make the event an annual fundraiser, holding it on the nearest Friday to November 11, the day of Mark’s funeral.