Part of job for Bay's 'cover boys'

John Plastow and Ross McNabb were just doing their job when a photographer snapped their picture.
Now their faces are appearing in 1.2 million letterboxes throughout New Zealand.
The two Hastings paramedics are the faces of this week's St John annual envelope appeal but there was no photoshoot - John and Ross were photographed by Hawke's Bay Today deputy chief photographer Andrew Labett as they were rushing a patient who had spent 17 hours in the water to hospital.
In the business of saving lives there is never a dull moment, the workmates said.
"I guess one of the most exciting things for me was rescuing a tramper. I was hooked up on a harness and hooked to a line on a helicopter," John said.
"I'd never done static line work before - it was quite interesting. We were taken to a hut, hanging from the bottom of a rope, hanging from a helicopter. I can remember saying, 'You know, people pay to do this'."
Saving lives is in John's blood. His father was an "ambo" in England and John became a cadet when he was seven. When the family immigrated to New Zealand in 1970, John became a volunteer ambulance officer in Wellington.
"After several years the boss rang me up and asked if I'd like a fulltime job," John said.
"It took me about 10 seconds to make my mind up and I've been in ambulance ever since."
On his days off, John potters around his lifestyle block, growing feijoas for the local market and runs a few sheep and cattle.
"But ambulance has fulfilled me totally. I just love the job and there is nothing else I would rather do," he said.
"I haven't applied for office jobs because I don't want to come off the road. I just love getting in that white truck and going out the doors."
The job has it's tough time as well.
Ross McNabb remembers a car crash that left him with a lump in his throat.
"It turned out the kiddy had the same name as one of my daughters. We transported the poor little thing to hospital but she died shortly after," Ross said.
"A couple of years ago there was an awful motor vehicle accident at a local black spot where there were several kids with extreme injuries. About three ambulance officers turned up and we all had teenage sons of the same age.
"Because we couldn't recognise them we all had that terrible feeling of 'is this my son?'
"It wasn't until we could get them to hospital and sort out the names that we realised that no, it wasn't our boys."
The heartwarming jobs are the successful resuscitations, Ross said.
"You get in and resuscitate people and you don't really hold out much hope. Then, a month down the track, you see them down the street and they stop and have a yak."
Ross became a volunteer in Levin but never considered it as a full-time job.
"I moved up to the Bay about 11 years ago and thought, 'why not do something I love, professionally?'
"I just love the job - there is none better."