The wife of helicopter paramedic Mick Wilson, who lost his life while rescuing two canyoners on Christmas Eve, said her husband died a hero.Nurse Kellie Wilson paid tribute to her husband and the father of her three young children at his funeral at Sydney’s St James Anglican Church, where the couple also married.‘‘He was my soul mate, my protector, my confidant, my best friend,’’ Mrs Wilson said.‘‘He completed me and made me a better person...we became immensely proud of the life we built together.’’Mrs Wilson thanked paramedics, her family and friends as well as the public for their support.‘‘I will be forever grateful to the actions of those who assisted Michael in the final moments and the ultimate tearful retrieval,’’ she said.‘‘It is no surprise to me that Michael courageously died laying his body on the line for his patients.’’She said he was ‘‘a true hero in every sense of the word to the very end.’’Premier Barry O’Farrell also paid tribute to Mr Wilson during a press conference in Sydney.‘‘It’s tragic whenever any emergency worker loses their life,’’ Mr O’Farrell told AAP on Tuesday.‘‘It’s a sad day, but what we see is the health sector, the community, coming together to celebrate a life - a life given, in the end, in sacrifice for others.’’During the memorial service, Mr Wilson’s brother said the two canyoners the paramedic tried to rescue when he fell to his death shouldn’t feel guilty.Hadyn Wilson said his brother, a devoted father and husband, would have been overwhelmed by the attention he was getting as hundreds gathered for his funeral.‘‘They should not feel guilty for what had happened,’’ Mr Wilson said at the funeral at Sydney’s St James Anglican Church, where the paramedic was also married.Mick Wilson's brother and son place his helicopter helmet on his coffin at St James church in Sydney. Photo: NICK MOIRHe acknowledged that people rescued in remote locations were often portrayed in the media as irresponsible.‘‘As a group (canyoners) are generally competent and responsible,’’ he said.Hadyn Wilson said he believed the canyoners would be feeling ‘‘pretty bad’’ now.Earlier, Kellie, his two young daughters and his son walked into the church in central Sydney as a guard of honour was formed by paramedics and police officers outside the church.His coffin, wrapped in an Australian flag, was carried in by his colleagues in the NSW Ambulance’s Special Casualty Access Team.His funeral began at 10am and about 25 paramedics from the Illawarra were expected to attend to farewell their colleague.Hundreds packed out the church while hundreds more watched from TV screens outside.Mr Wilson, 41, died on Christmas Eve during a rescue operation at Carrington Falls, south of Wollongong.He was attached to a patient to be winched up by helicopter when something is believed to have gone wrong, and Mr Wilson hit a rock wall. He was believed to have been between the patient and the rock wall at the time of impact.He is the first NSW paramedic to be killed on duty in more than 30 years.