Piper's lament at funeral of Falkirk paramedic who died from coronavirus

Rod Moore died aged 63 on November 21 in Forth Valley Royal Hospital’s intensive care unit after testing positive for Covid-19 in late October.

A ceremony was held at St Francis Xavier's Church in Falkirk before friends and colleagues paid their respects as the funeral procession passed Falkirk Ambulance Station on its way to Grandsable Cemetery, Polmont.

Scottish Ambulance Service employee Darren O'Hare performed Local Hero on the bagpipes in what was a fitting tribute to the dad-of-one.

An obituary written by Mr Moore’s family reads: “Much loved husband to Clare and proud and loving dad to Craig.

“A hugely respected brother, uncle, friend and mentor to many.

Retired Larbert couple accidentally bombarded with coronavirus vaccine appointment calls

“A long career of service to the Falkirk community as an ambulance paramedic, he will be sadly missed.”

Mr Moore had returned to full-time frontline paramedic duties when the pandemic hit the country earlier this year, offering younger colleagues the benefit of his 40 years of experience.

When he tested positive and began self-isolating, he told others of his battle against the virus via Twitter.

One of his posts stated: “I never thought it would happen but it’s hospital for me. Covid-19 is a bugger.”

Mr Moore continued to praise the efforts of staff at NHS 24 and Forth Valley Royal Hospital and never lost his sense of humour.

Those who knew Mr Moore said he would often go to hospital to visit patients he had helped and find out how they were doing.

Thank you for reading this article on our free-to-read website. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a subscription to our print newspaper to help fund our trusted, fact-checked journalism.

https://www.localsubsplus.co.uk/nord/dm/FKH/V