Carrie & Isla’s Story

Carrie Grandison, aged 33, who has been receiving terminal care for a rare and serious form of asthma has made a plea that a song her daughter wrote about Cornwall Air Ambulance saving her mum’s life, is shared.

It was following a number of life-saving interventions with Cornwall Air Ambulance Critical Care Paramedics that her daughter Isla, aged 9, became so inspired by the charity’s work in saving her Mum’s life, that she has not only raised over £5,000 for Cornwall Air Ambulance but also wrote and put words to the beautiful song ‘Flying High’.

Her Grandad, Anton Mullan aged 76 who is also the father of Carrie, is a retired former professional musician and quickly went to work on recording Isla’s work in his recording studio in Whitemoor near St Austell. He told us:

“The song was so instinctive and natural for Isla, she did it all herself and was a way for her to cope with what was going on around her at the time. She has seen her Mum being supported by the amazing team at Cornwall Air Ambulance on a few occasions and was powerfully impacted by what she saw. She wrote the words and started humming the tune to me – she has such a talent. We sat down in my music studio and pulled it together. It was as if she painted the picture, and I musically wrote it down on canvass. We’re best friends and I’m so proud of her with everything that she’s been going through.”

Her Mum, Carrie not only has acute brittle asthma, but has conditions which mean that her immune system doesn’t work. She has also had numerous blood clots and has had sepsis 30 times and was given only months to live over a year ago. Carrie is now in hospital with worsening health after your Critical Care Team were tasked to her once again last month following a very bad asthma episode which almost took her life. Carrie told us: “I’m so grateful to still be alive and that’s only down to the paramedics at Cornwall Air Ambulance.”

Speaking about Isla’s song, Carrie said:

“I’m so incredibly proud of Isla and I can’t even describe it. It’s turned a huge negative into a positive and given me a reason to stay alive and have a focus. It would fill me with joy if Isla’s song could be shared. I’m so very proud of her and my son Ted.”

Already BBC Spotlight and ITV West Country have jumped on board and are covering Isla’s story which will be aired across their respective news channels over the coming days.

Carrie is also no stranger to the spotlight, having previously starred as a child when she was just 8 years old with Kate Winslett in the film ‘Hideous Kinky’, after being noticed at an after-school drama event in Bristol.

Her dream for Isla is that the ‘Flying High’ song inspires people to donate to the charity that has helped keep her alive.

If Isla has inspired you today, please donate https://cornwallairambulancetrust.org/donate/