Brave Darren Weston is fundraising for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, saying: "If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be alive today."

The 14-year-old's life was saved after he was rescued from under a bus in Manchester Road, Bradford, in September, and flown to Leeds General Infirmary in just three minutes by the 999 helicopter.

He was in intensive care for a month and has undergone a series of operations for multiple injuries.

His family are convinced the air ambulance flight made the difference.

Darren recalled: "It felt like a dream at the time, like it wasn't real. I didn't feel any pain: it was as if it was happening to someone else.

"On the ground they kept on talking to me to keep me awake and all I remember wanting to do was go to sleep.

"I tried to drag myself out but they told me to stop and stay still. The flight is all a dream."

Paramedics used airbags and fire crews brought in heavy lifting gear to lift the single deck vehicle off Darren.

The bus had hit his head, dragging him underneath the wheels where he sustained multiple injuries.

The Buttershaw High School pupil spent nearly two months in hospital and now has wires in his ankle, plates and screws in his upper legs and a plate in his mouth. In his latest operation, surgeons will re-enter an old head wound to remove skull bones to reconstruct his face.

Darren's family, of Birch Avenue, West Bowling, are now planning fundraising events for the air ambulance, including a pool match at the Round Thorn pub, Girlington, on Sunday, May 30, for which a trophy and sponsors are needed. They are also hoping to stage a fancy dress pub crawl from Queensbury to Bradford and a charity rugby match.

His mum, Mandy, said: "I followed Darren on in a police car and the traffic was terrible and it seemed to take ages.

"The fact he was there in three minutes was fantastic, unbelievable. He wouldn't be here today without the service, I am convinced.

"In hospital I said prayers I didn't know I knew. All that mattered was that he came out of there."

Mandy said she was stunned to learn the service relied on donations.

"We were told we were lucky the helicopter was up that day," she said. "It shouldn't be like that. It should be there all the time."

Darren has been given extra help with his studies and his mum praised teachers at Buttershaw for helping him to make up for lost time.

Martin Eede, chief executive of the air ambulance, said: "Most of the money comes from people like Darren's family.

"We get a tremendous amount of support from them. There are always cheques and donations coming in. It is very heart-warming."

It costs £3,000 a day to keep the air ambulance flying - roughly £1 million a year. Ambulance services pay for the paramedics but donations are needed for the fuel, helicopter rental and pilot's fees. Later this year, to celebrate the air ambulance's fourth anniversary, a massive tea party fundraiser will be staged across Yorkshire.