Peter Lee, Kefalonia. Peter Lee, now a journalist in Kefalonia on www.cosmos965.

gr broadcasting English language shows on Mondays and Fridays at 2pm on 96.5fm as well as an internet Station called www.radioheatwave.co.uk. In the early days, Peter was a bit of a rebel, working for the British Pirate Radio ships : Radio Caroline and Radio North Sea International (off Holland at the time)!! These ships were able to broadcast high power AM pop music into the UK from outside the legal Country boundary in the North Sea. The BBC had up until then prevented large scale transmission of pop music to the British and European public. It was broadcasting that Peter was to eventually take up again nearly 40 years later Peter started his real working life selling newspapers in 1968 in Kent UK and obtained assistant manager of a Shop network called W H Smith and Son. He soon realized that a bit of excitement was where he wanted to go and joined the Ambulance Service as a technician in 1971 at a large station in Kent. He then joined the Kent Fire and Rescue Service in 1979 as a part-time or `retained` Fireman fighting fires when he was off duty from the Ambulance Service. He did this continually for 15 years alongside the Ambulance job. He qualified to drive the fire engine and wear breathing equipment to fight large house and factory fires. Peter also carried out Motor Racing medical cover on some of the main race circuits in UK like Brands Hatch, covering for accident and fire cover when the races were on.

In the eighties he met his partner Jenny who also qualified as an Ambulance technician and she even attended the terrorist attack on the Margaret Thatcher`s British Government at Brighton!! Peter continued through into the nineties experiencing every emergency that the Country could throw at him, qualifying for the UN Emergency worldwide rescue team to go out to earthquakes etc all over the world at short notice. Peter qualified as one of the first ever Paramedics in UK in the eighties, carrying drugs and fluids and carrying out life-saving procedures at the roadside or anywhere an accident happened. This was a pioneering role and is now common in UK. He drove a lorry to Romania in 1990 just after the Romanian revolution to provide Aid for the Orphans and destitute people who were in desperate need. 2 years later he made another trip to St Petersburgh, Russia, for a BBC TV programme `That`s Life` with British TV star Esther Rantzen to deliver a donated Ambulance to the Komso Childrens Hospital in Russia. In the mid nineties Peter was driving a rapid response paramedic emergency vehicle to reach accidents and illnesses in the fastest possible time. But in 1995 a serious road accident was to immediately destroy his career when his back was broken. Peter struggled to return to Ambulance work and had to immediately resign from the Fire Brigade because of the strain of the injury. He undertook a trainers degree at Thanet University and carried out Emergency First Aid Training to Police, Fire and Ambulance Staff as well as the public and shop/factory workers etc Peter carried on until 2001 when he undertook early retirement from the Ambulance Service. He then did 2 years in a CCTV monitoring centre watching the cameras on the streets of UK and monitoring alarms etc. In 2003 Peter and Jenny sold their house in UK and with a lorry, 2 German shepherd dogs and a caravan, made the long journey to Kefalonia to begin a new life here on the Island that they had spent so many holidays on and to be near the people they loved and respected in Greece.

After a fairly traumatic few years (building a house!!!!) Peter and Jenny are now settled here and although returning to UK regularly to update his Ambulance skills, he works for a local radio station, as well as one in Zante as well. Peter does programmes on several other internet stations (All voluntary!!!) as a hobby. Peter even learnt to fly a radio-controlled aircraft here in Kefalonia. Peter is involved also with ARK the www.animalrescuekefalonia.com charity and believes animals deserve the respect of humans too. He often fights the cause of sick and abused animals. Peter also helps monitor the progress of Loggerhead Turtle nests on the Island and believes that it is a great attraction for tourists as well as being one of the most important endangered species in the world. His car is packed with medical equipment he has purchased himself and he even carries a defibrillator as well as Oxygen and carries out First Aid and Rescue according to the European treatment guidelines. Peter has attended many accidents on the Island of Kefalonia, One particular case 2 yrs ago outside the Monastery at St Gerassimos, a couple of tourists on a motor bike crashed head-on into a car and the pair were unconscious. The female passenger had a fractured pelvis and had partially swallowed her sunglasses. The male had a serious head injury. Peter travelled in the Ambulance to the hospital with them and they made a full recovery eventually. After you have been in the emergency Services it is in your blood, you are never off-duty Peter says. I will try to help people and animals until I am no longer able to do so. It gives me a boost when I can relieve suffering along the way. It`s a lifelong vocation!! Pictures: left to right: Peter with response unit, RAF Sea King Helicopter winching exercise. Radio Caroline : Mi Amigo Ship. (bottom photos): Peter with Ambulance, Peter with Fire Crew at Kent Fire and Rescue. (far left at back)