Funeral held for Gold Coast paramedic Craig McCulloch killed in the line of duty

A Gold Coast paramedic will be farewelled today, after he was killed on duty while trying to save a life last week.

A GOLD Coast paramedic will be farewelled today, after he was killed while trying to save a life last week.

Craig McCulloch died on January 28 after the ambulance he was driving rolled a number of times before hitting a tree on the Mackay-Eungella Road at Benholme, about 50km west of Mackay.

Despite the best efforts of bystanders and responding emergency services crews, who were Mr McCulloch’s colleagues and friends, the 32-year-old died at the scene.

Friends and the Queensland Ambulance Service will join Mr McCulloch’s family at the funeral today.

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Craig McCulloch died last week in north Queensland when his ambulance crashed on the way to an emergency. (AAP Image/Supplied by Queensland Ambulance Service)

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Queensland Ambulance Service Commissioner Russell Bowles said Mr McCulloch lived on the Gold Coast on his days off with his partner and two children.

“Craig would come up and do his shifts, he does have family here in town that he would stay with — he has an aunty and uncle in town — and then he would return to his partner and young family on the Gold Coast for his days off,” he said.

Commissioner Bowles spoke highly of him during a solemn press conference the day after his death.

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He said Mr McCulloch’s former colleagues would remember him as a “young, happy, cheerful, outgoing person”, who “touched so many hearts”.

“Craig, as you may be aware, leaves behind a young family and partner, and this is very sad and has been very difficult for people within the ambulance service to deal with,” Mr Bowles said.

“(Colleagues) just recognise him as a good friend, a peer and someone taken tragically too early,” Mr Bowles said.

The family requested privacy during this difficult time.