WHEN staff at the Kent Air Ambulance Trust headquarters first saw a cheque from a widow they thought it was for £280.

But closer inspection of the shaky handwriting revealed it was donation for... £28,000.

The generous pensioner, who lives at Queenborough, near Sheerness, but wishes to remain anonymous, has made the gift in memory of her late husband.

The money will pay for a state-of-the-art 12-lead portable ECG heart monitor, which will mean the Kent emergency helicopter is the first in the country to be fitted out with the compact portable version of the equipment.

The charity's chief executive David Philpott said: "This is a vital life-saving piece of equipment that has been on our wish list for a long time.

"This gift will mean the difference between life and death for many patients, so we cannot thank this lady enough. We almost fell off our stools when we realised it was £28,000."

The woman turned down an offer to say how the money should be spent saying: "You will know how to spend the money much better than I could."

David Philpott spoke to KM-fm about the surprise donation...