Now Oak Flats senior paramedic Paul Norwell is the one being helped by his paramedic mates as he battles a tumour in his kidney and the recent news that the cancer has spread to other parts of his body.

More than 100 Illawarra paramedics, along with support staff and hospital nurses gathered on Monday morning to support their mate as he was surprised on national television with a cheque for $10,000 from Channel 9’s Today Show.

Mr Norwell was nominated by 30 colleagues for the The Knock of Cash promotion, a reflection of how well liked he is in the community where he lives and works. 

Clearly overwhelmed by the attention and enormity of what he’s facing, Mr Norwell with wife Lisa and children Danielle, Brandon and Georgia by his side, said his diagnosis hit him “for six”.

“You’ve just gotta roll with the punches and see how you go,” he told Today’s Steven Jacobs. “We’ll get through it.”

Friend and Ambulance NSW Illawarra South West Sydney acting inspector Kelvin Milne said the idea to nominate Mr Norwell for the prize took off quickly within the “Illawarra and Shoalhaven ambulance family.”

“We are a close-knit community,” acting inspector Milne said.

“We put the word out to our ambulance family and said let’s show our support, our friendship, our mateship to Paul. Everyone met in their uniforms to show Paul and his family that we are here for him. They are going to go through tough times but we wanted to show them we will help in any way we can.”

Mr Norwell has been a paramedic for 13 years, working in Sydney before moving to the Illawarra where he worked at Dapto ambulance station before moving to Oak Flats two years ago.

“We are lucky to have him. It takes a special kind of person to be a paramedic and Paul is really good at bringing relief to people,” acting inspector Milne said.

“We would love for him to be well and for this not to be happening, but it is and we have got to make sure that he and his family are getting the best care, and best support that is possible from us.

“This morning was special for him. Today was all about Paul and his family and showing that as NSW Ambulance we stand by our colleagues and we offer them support and any help in the future that he needs.”