A LIFESAVING ambulance crew enjoyed some well-earned recognition when a grateful father insisted on buying their lunch and dinner.

Sarra Studd said she “wanted to cry” after a man and his little boy approached her in Tesco, in Brook Retail Park, Clacton, before she started a busy shift.

Sarra, 30, and her fellow team members work 12 hour shifts, but these often stretch to stints as long as 15 hours.

She was stocking up on supplies to keep the crew going when the man approached and insisted on paying for her shopping.

“He told me his son had to be rushed to hospital and the ambulance crew saved his life,” she said.

“I just didn’t know what to say, I told him I can’t expect him to do that.

“He said he was doing it whether I liked it or not.

“It made me want to cry.

“I have done this job for three years and you do get good and bad reactions.

“It just really touched me.

“I love the job - I started as a volunteer five years ago as a first responder.”

Sarra, from Clacton, works as an emergency medical technician and is a student paramedic.

She is hoping to be fully-qualified in the next few months.

She added: “I have had a couple of people come up and shake my hand before.

“You get the odd thank you, but you don’t really think about getting any recognition.

“You’re just doing a job.

“You forget, sometimes, what a difference you can make.

“Some days you save a life and take them to hospital.

“You never hear about that person again.

“The only time you do is if you get a letter from them or something like that, but this doesn’t happen often.”

In her role with the East of England Ambulance Service, Sarra covers a huge area, spanning across parts of Essex, London and Hertfordshire.

“We are there for people during happier times, for example during the birth of a child,” she added.

“But we are also there when someone is losing a loved one.

“You are many things to different people - carers, social workers, medics.”