The paramedics huddled together in the ambulance Natalie Pascus worked the most.
But on that trip through Parksville, he would take her ashes.
The paramedic’s ambulance was one of a long line of ambulances marching through the city in the middle of the island in honor of a lady whose friends said she lived to be a savior and whose sudden death left her community in shock.
“She has left a hole in everyone’s heart,” said Jen Hicks, a longtime friend and paramedic at BC Ambulance. “She lived for her family, and we were her family, so it was just her compassion, her kindness.
Hundreds of emergency workers gathered in Parksville on Saturday to pay tribute to the 54-year-old man they worked with – including the RCMP and firefighters to fellow paramedics.
“He was going to kill her to leave a car without staff so she could work on the weekends, and she was just that person,” said Robbie Jay, a longtime friend and fellow ambulance paramedic.
“It was an honor for me to learn to help people with Natalie. I was her driver, her assistant for all the adventures she did, “said John McKinstree, a longtime friend and retired paramedic.
The rescue dogs of devoted animal lovers, Mack and Harlow, set off with the guard of honor on the feast of Pascus’ life, where they met her grieving daughter Mary.
“Just to honor her and acknowledge what she gave to the ambulance and what she gave to the people of British Columbia,” Jay said.
“This is a woman who took homeless people into her home to make sure they had a safe place, a hot shower,” Hicks said.
Pascus died suddenly of an undiagnosed heart disease on March 26, and it came as a shock to everyone who knew her because she was so healthy that she was preparing to give new life to a senior.
“She had just undergone her final medical examination to donate a kidney to a man in need of a kidney transplant. A stranger, he drives around town with a sign on his car that I need a kidney, can anyone donate a kidney, “said Jay.
“She just said, ‘I have to do this to help them,'” McKinstrey said.
“Everyone should live like her. Come on, take care of the others, “Hicks said.
Hundreds of ambulance workers gathered in Parksville on Saturday to pay tribute to 54-year-old Natalie Pascus, who died suddenly last month. (CHEK News)
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