FROM rock and roll gliteratti and soccer stars to saving lives. These pictures offer an inside view of Michael Owen’s former chopper, and a sneak glimpse of how it is taking shape as an air ambulance.

During its past life it carried everyone from Guns and Roses to William Hague.

One of Axl Rose’s entourage was even spotted knitting in the back as it carried VIPs to and from shows.

Soon, with your help, it could be first on the scene at emergencies across the North.

Thanks to the enormous generosity of Sunday Sun readers the Great North Air Ambulance has already been able to put down a deposit on the helicopter and start fitting it for medical use.

But until our Air Angels appeal reaches its £1m target the helicopter cannot be paid for in full, leaving the charity exposed.

Our campaign total has now hit £300,000, marking another milestone in readers’ terrific efforts.

But the donations and pledges must keep coming in.

The tragic double bus smash, near Chester-le-Street, County Durham, last week, which left bus driver Gordon Hutchinson, 58, dead, showed again how crucial the air ambulance is to the region.

Determined to make sure there was adequate medical cover at the crash scene the Great North Air Ambulance had to call in support from a Yorkshire helicopter, which was luckily in the region at the time.

An air ambulance doctor travelled with the 50-year-old driver of the second bus, who remains critically ill in Newcastle General Hospital.

The Great North Air Ambulance rushed passenger Frank Bourne to James Cook Hospital, Teesside, where he has been treated for a fractured pelvis and other internal injuries.

Fundraising manager for the GNAA Mandy Drake said: “Our thoughts are with Mr Hutchinson’s family at this extremely sad and difficult time.

“We also send our best wishes to the coach driver who was seriously injured and passengers as they recover.

“Thanks to your generosity we are edging closer to our campaign total every week, but please keep your donations and fundraising coming in. Every penny is so crucial because we receive no Government funding.

“We are at the stage where we have started making changes to the helicopter, but it is not ours yet.

“We only have one air ambulance to cover the region at the moment - we need two. By raising £1m and buying our own helicopter for the first time we can secure the charity’s future and ensure the region is never left without air cover.

“It is wonderful to hear about the helicopter’s colourful past, I’m sure there will be occasions when we will be able to tell patients.

“Certainly when they are back on the road to recovery I’m sure they will be entertained to know they have shared the same helicopter as Axl Rose.”

The chopper the Air Angels are hoping to buy once belonged to ex-Toon star Michael Owen.

The champagne bucket, comfy sofa seats and leather upholstery, which formerly greeted celebrity passengers, have been ripped out to make way for a mobile treatment room.

Parts of the helicopter have already had the Great North Air Ambulance livery added to it.

When it wasn’t carrying the England striker Owen about, the chopper was available for the rich, famous and powerful to charter.

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