Suffolk artist Jeremy Rugge Price hasn’t forgotten the urgent care he received from our crew in October 2024 when he suffered serious injuries in an incident on a road near his home in Orford. He had nine ribs with multiple breaks and fractures, two cracked vertebrae and a crushed shoulder.
“The first medics on the scene were from East Anglian Air Ambulance,” Jeremy explains. “The doctor thought that my ten-year-old replacement titanium hip was the reason I was still alive.”
Following this emergency, Jeremy felt compelled to give something back. The answer was an art exhibition to raise money for the service that helped him, and he’s been working tirelessly towards the show over recent months.
After growing up in Suffolk, Jeremy joined the Merchant Navy when he was 17 years old, he also served in Malaya and Germany and later emigrated to the United States working in PR in New York City. It was then that his career took a different, more creative turn – and one that in several years’ time would shape the basis for his fundraising in aid of East Anglian Air Ambulance.
“In 1990, I quit my position and moved to Camden Maine, my intention being to teach myself to paint: by 1994 I had ten galleries on the Eastern Seaboard, from Boston to Charleston, taking my work.”
By 2005, Suffolk was calling Jeremy and his wife home. With his youngest son deployed to Iraq and then Afghanistan, they returned for the period of his deployment – initially for six months – but they ended up staying. One thing has remained constant, his love of art.
Jeremy has seen East Anglian Air Ambulance featured on television shows, such as Emergency Helicopter Medics and, since his incident, has developed further appreciation for the work of air ambulances. As a result, he has been determined to raise money for the charity to help save the lives of others.
“The content of the exhibition will be varied, mainly nautical, and given that Norfolk is one of the counties covered by East Anglian Air Ambulance, several paintings will be based around Nelson.”
Throughout the exhibition, which will take place at the Watch House Gallery in Orford, visitors will have the chance to view – and purchase – Jeremy’s original artwork, with a generous portion of the proceeds helping to keep our helicopters flying and our critical care teams responding when every second counts.
“One good turn deserves another,” Jeremy says.
Whether by air or road, we bring hospital-level care to the most seriously ill and injured, probably on the worst day of their lives. But the fact is, we couldn’t do what we do without generous and thoughtful people like Jeremy. You don’t have to run a marathon or jump out of a plane to make a difference to work we carry out. Jeremy has shown that fundraising can take different forms, and we’re touched that he is using his artworks and talent to power future taskings to people experiencing medical emergencies in our region.
Jeremy Rugge Price’s exhibition takes place from 25 July to 31 July 2026 at the Watch House Gallery, The Quay, Orford, Suffolk, IP12 2NU
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