Stafford student paramedic works first shift with father

A student paramedic has begun working beside his father who has been an ambulance worker for nearly 30 years.

Jack Sambrook, who has been training for two years, joined dad Russell at the Stafford hub for the first time on Tuesday.

West Midlands Ambulance Service posted on social media that their first shift working together as father and son was "a proud day for them both".

"We got on surprisingly well", Jack said after their first shift.

"I was a little bit apprehensive beforehand but we worked well together and I enjoyed it."

His father is an operational manager and has worked for the ambulance service for 29 years.

The pair were on the same ambulance on Tuesday, Russell said: "I was quite proud to sit next to him."

The ambulance service posted a photo of father and son on their social media, external which proved "quite emotional" for Russell.

"It was surprising how very good he was. It is an eye opener but he did very well," he said.

Their shift saw them handle "nothing too taxing" but included a man who was treated at home after a fall and a woman who needed taking to hospital after a slip at a nursing home.

Jack is the fourth generation of his family to work for the ambulance service.

"I never actually set out to do this job", he said, but "I always looked up to my dad and my grandad also who was a paramedic for a long time".

But the chance to help other people decided it for him: "It is about having that care and that compassion and just something that I went for really."

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