Tri-Service

Ex Red Arrows Pilot Battled In Vain To Save Daughter's Life

Former Red-Arrows Pilot Andy Cubin has spoken of his grief in the wake of his 14-year-old daughter’s tragic death at the weekend.

The now British Airways captain described how he and his wife battled in vain to save the life of their daughter Hannah, a budding taekwondo star who Andy describes as ‘a bright light’.

Hannah also had hopes to compete in the X-Factor, before following in her father’s footsteps and becoming a pilot.

She was spending the night at a friend's house just five minutes from her parents, who were at home when she stopped breathing on Saturday night, just three days after her fourteenth birthday.

After being alerted by Hannah’s friend, Andy and mother Dawn rushed to their daughter’s side, administering CPR and mouth to mouth before paramedics arrived at the house.

Paramedics spent an hour trying to save Hannah, but she was later pronounced dead.

Devastated, Andy said of his daughter:

"We are broken. Having children gives you a purpose in life. This is what we are here for. Our beautiful girl was absolutely everything we had. Everything we did on a day to day basis revolved around what Hannah was doing. We would plan every day around her activities, driving her here and there, opening Bank of Dad and shelling out a fiver and closing it again, the taxi service and entertaining her and her friends. That is all gone sadly. The Bank of Dad is closed. We have to learn to cope with it somehow. I'm not quite sure how, but we will get there. I was the last person to kiss her on the lips before I had to leave her."

Andy spent nearly 20 years in the RAF, and was awarded the MBE for his service; he also flew with the Red Arrows between 1996 and 1999 before becoming a commercial pilot.

On Monday, the family set up a fundraising page to raise money for Wiltshire Air Ambulance in their daughter's memory.

The Air Ambulance were on standby as medics fought to save the teen in case she needed to be taken to hospital.

The page set up by the family reads:

“We realise that many of our and Hannah's friends and family would like to send flowers or cards. Perhaps you might consider instead, that an equivalent donation would be better directed to this worthy cause. The Wiltshire Air Ambulance was standing by for our daughter whilst the paramedics were attending to her. We feel that these unsung heroes deserve our collective recognition and any spare money keeps this emergency service operational - any of us might need them at any time.”

The total now stands at £21,690.

Dawn thanked those who had donated, saying:

"It is incredible generosity and it just demonstrates the amount of affection that has come through from not only people who know Hannah but also those who don't. We can't even really come to grips with how incredibly generous everybody is being. Hannah has raised enough money to keep the ambulance flying and potentially could be saving so many more lives."

Whilst Andy added:

"We have collected enough money in 6 hours to keep the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Helicopter in full operations for 24 hours. This is truly a miraculous achievement, far exceeding our expectations and proving that, in a world of sturm und drang, we are all surrounded by kindness and warmth. Hannah is looking down on all of you and feeling proud of this incredible achievement. As for Dawn and I still here on Earth - you have raised our broken spirit in our darkest days - we thank you so much."

The family plan to hold a funeral service around Christmas and will scatter Hannah's ashes in a plot in their garden where they will later plant a tree to mark the spot.