Long-standing Wiltshire Air Ambulance paramedic Shaun Russell died on Friday aged 50 after being diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2011.

He leaves behind wife Kim, children Kerry-Ann and James and two grandchildren Josh and Olivia.

Mr Russell, along with identical twin brother Stuart, was born at on April 14, 1965, one of eight children.

The family lived in the village of Helmdon, near Brackley, Northants, and as a boy he was in the Helmdon Youth Club football team.

Later on he became an apprentice for a bus company and obtained his full licence to drive buses and coaches at the age of 17.

Mr Russell obtained his City & Guilds in Motor Vehicle Craft Studies in 1984, and worked as an apprentice mechanic and driver for Jeffs Coaches in Northamptonshire.

He then had a short spell in the Territorial Army, before joining the ambulance service in 1987.

He worked as a technician and qualified as a paramedic in 1992, in the Oxfordshire area, before transferring to Wiltshire.

Mr Russell joined Wiltshire Air Ambulance in 1999 and completed his air observer’s course in 2002.

He had two children James, 24, and Kerry, 21, with first wife Joanne.

Mr Russell met his second wife of 12 years, Kim, through work and the couple married in September 2003 at Devizes Registry Office.

Mrs Russell said: “He described his time with the Wiltshire Air Ambulance as his dream job until his diagnosis in 2010.”

“Shaun was a devoted husband. He had a great sense of humour and always put my happiness above his own. His family, friends and colleagues were his top priority when not working, but his gentle and compassionate nature extended to all those around him.

“He loved nothing more than to curl up on the sofa in front of the TV with our two cats, Comet and Cupid, whom he adored.”

His funeral will be held on July 10 in West Wiltshire Crematorium, Semington, at 12.15pm. Donations if desired to Wiltshire Air Ambulance.