WHEN Mike Long signed up to be a paramedic he knew he would be faced with a wide variety of life and death situations.But little did he realise that he would be so close to the birth of a baby just weeks into the start of his new job.

WHEN Mike Long signed up to be a paramedic he knew he would be faced with a wide variety of life and death situations.

But little did he realise that he would be so close to the birth of a baby just weeks into the start of his new job.

And last week the student ambulance paramedic presented little Willow-Faith Poole with a cuddy teddy bear, just eight days after helping welcome her into the world in the back of an ambulance.

It was 8.05pm on Monday, July 5 that Willow-Faith began to announce her arrival on the world. But despite a pregnancy that had been full of complications and false alarms, Sarah Poole never imagined that she would give birth in the back of an ambulance.

'I sat down and felt contractions. Four minutes later there was another, then three minutes there was another, then another three minutes, and then one every two minutes,' said Mrs Poole, 23.

'I didn't want to phone at first because I'd rung a couple of times before and it died down, so I felt really silly.'

It was to be no false alarm on this occasion and soon the paramedics were on the way to the scene.

Paramedic Donna White said: 'We had pre-told the maternity ward we were on the way, and after her waters broke we asked them to meet us at A&E.'

When they arrived at the James Paget University Hospital, in Gorleston, midwifes had to rush to the back of the ambulance, where Willow-Faith was about to make her appearance. After one hour, including just one minute and 37 seconds of pushing, Willow-Faith was born, weighing 7lbs.

Dawn said: 'Deliveries at home are not rare, but these don't happen very often - you either have it at home or get to A&E.'

The whole experience certainly came as a surprise to Mike, who was driving the ambulance on the first day of just his fourth week in the job.

He said: 'I was told that I could go my whole first year without seeing a baby born, so to see it in my first month on the road was fantastic.'

Mike and fellow paramedic Donna White visited Willow-Faith at home, in Montgomery Avenue, Lowestoft, last Tuesday, as her proud parents Ben, 24, and Sarah, 23, thanked them for their efforts.

The couple and their son Harry, three, presented the paramedics with flowers and chocolates to acknowledge their great work that day.

Proud father Ben said: 'They were magic, just absolutely brilliant.'