Tributes paid to paramedic who died after cardiac arrest

East Midlands Ambulance Service paramedic Liam Waring died while on paternity leave

Tributes have been paid to a paramedic who suffered a cardiac arrest shortly after becoming a father.

Liam Waring was a Hazardous Area Response Team paramedic at East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), and had become a father on 21 June.

Mr Waring was also part of the mutual aid support sent to the North West on the night of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017.

In a statement, his family said: "He was and always will be our hero."

Mr Waring joined EMAS as an ambulance care assistant in Carlton, Nottinghamshire, in 2008, before becoming an emergency care assistant in Gorse Hill in Leicestershire later that year.

He became a fully-qualified paramedic in 2012 and took on a team leader role in north Nottinghamshire in 2013.

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EMAS said in 2018, he fulfilled a long-held dream of becoming part of the air crew of the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance, before returning to his role at EMAS.

The father-of-one's family said: "Liam was the kindest, most generous and - he would like to think - funniest person you could hope to come across.

"Those that knew Liam would know that he was passionate about his role as a paramedic, leaving a role as an aircraft engineer in 2008 to become an ambulance care assistant in pursuit of his dream to work as part of the air ambulance crew.

"Words cannot express the devastation we feel as a family right now but we are incredibly proud of the man that Liam became.

"He was and always will be our hero and we will love him unconditionally until the end of time."

'Fantastic, genuine person'

EMAS chief executive Richard Henderson said: "Losing Liam in such tragic circumstances is incredibly difficult for our colleagues to hear.

"It is clear that Liam was a fantastic, genuine person, who loved his family, his outdoor pursuits, his role as a paramedic, and his work with the RAF cadets.

"My thoughts and condolences are with Liam's family and friends, and his colleagues across the service."

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