BRADFORD’S Lisa Dempster is one of the real-life stars on prime television series Helicopter ER.

The 42-year-old, who grew up in Thornton, can be seen in the gritty show on a Monday night and repeated on Saturday nights on Really Sky Channel.

The 12-week series is halfway through but a second series is destined for spring next year giving viewers a keyhole view of what life is like for paramedics whose day job is to take to the skies.

Mrs Dempster, who is mum to 16 and 20-year-old boys, started her working life as a secretary with British Gas. When she approached her 30th birthday, she decided to follow her lifetime dream and apply to join the ambulance service.

She trained as a technician, driving rapid response and single response vehicles before going on a paramedic course.

Three years after qualifying she could take the opportunity of becoming a helicopter pilot, going through a five-month selection process which included written and competency tests and a gruelling fitness challenge.

“I had to put on a heavy suit, gloves, helmet, carry a massive rucksack, have 6kg dumbbells in each hand and do 32 steps up and down, then walk a distance, carry out a medical task and do that three times over before doing a 75 kilo dummy drag for quite a way,” she said.

There was more to come after she was selected including specialist helicopter crew training, brushing up on map reading skills and going to Wales for swift water rescue training.

Last April she began her two-year secondment to Yorkshire Air Ambulance working from its two bases at Nostell Priory near Wakefield and RAF Topcliffe close to the A1.

So far, Mrs Dempster has been seen in almost all of the Helicopter ER episodes screened including rescuing an injured motorcyclist who had just passed her test, helping a jockey thrown from her horse and an elderly driver.

“All the jobs we go out on are intense. Some are happy stories with good outcomes and others are sad but they all stay in your mind for some time,” she said.

Helicopter ER has been made by many of the team behind Helicopter Heroes, the popular BBC programme which ran for seven series between 2007 and 2014.