POPULAR pub landlord Andy Starling is busy training for a 30-mile charity walk after his dad’s life was saved by an air ambulance.

Andy, who runs the Falcon Steakhouse in Wotton-under-Edge, is planning to walk the route the Wiltshire Air Ambulance took from Calne, where Andy’s dad Roland suffered a heart attack, to the Bristol Royal Infirmary.

Roland, a building site manager, was only in his early 60s when the incident happened two years ago, and has since made a full recovery.

However, the ordeal brought things into perspective for Andy, who was overweight at the time, and has had a profound effect on his life.

“In 2017 my dad suffered a cardiac arrest as he was leaving work,” he explained Andy, 32, a father-of-two.

“An ambulance was called and workers on the building site started performing CPR.

“He was then flown by the air ambulance to the Bristol Royal Infirmary.

“The care he received was incredible and the doctors said that without the air ambulance he would not be in the position he is today.

“It made me realise that I needed to lose some weight and become a bit healthier.

“Over the last 18 months I have been training really hard and have lost 13 stone.

“It was a bit of a shock what happened to my dad as he is a really fit guy but it made me look at myself.”

Andy has been training at Westgate Fighting and Fitness Gym in Tortworth with Danny Tomlin and Joe Stokes for the last year and a half, combining weights with some boxing in order to shed some weight.

Now, after getting fitter, he is looking forward to his charity walk.

“It has made a huge difference, the guys have been great with me at the gym,” said Andy.

“Once I started getting fitter I realised that I wanted to do something for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and I pitched this idea to them and they were really supportive.

“I have been training for this and going on long walks so I am ready.

Andy has a page where he updates people on his fitness called Andy Starling Fighting Fit, he also has a JustGiving page where he has raised over £800 already.

“The support from people online and also from customers at the Falcon has been amazing,” Andy explained.

“I just want to say thank you to them, we had a target of £1,000 and hopefully we will beat that.

“There are a few of us that will be doing some of the walk so we are praying for good weather.”

Andy will be taking on the near 30 mile walk on Sunday, December 1.

You can donate online on his fundraising page at justgiving.com/fundraising/andysbriwalk