Strabane paramedic wins £105k in radio competition

A PARAMEDIC from Strabane has won a massive £105,000 in Cool FM’s Cash Call competition.

Paddy Simpson answered the momentous call on yesterday’s Cool Drive show within the allotted five rings.

The Strabane man responded to the host with a jovial, “Hello, how’s it going?”

Picking up on Paddy’s positive demeanour, John Kearns said, “You may be the calmest person we’ve ever had on the Cool FM Cash Call”.

Paddy replied, “No I’m not. I’m shaking here.”

The confidence was well-placed as Paddy correctly guessed the Cash Call amount of £105,000- an amount soon to be in his bank account.

John told the winner that he should consider getting Friday April 8 tattooed on him as “the day everything changed”.

A clearly elated Paddy said, “Oh my god, jeepers creepers!”

“You’ve just won a fortune, and you say jeepers creepers?” the host joked.

In a follow up interview with the host, Paddy was joined by his daughter Molly to discuss what the big win means to him.

He said, “It gives us a bit of breathing space. I’d say between February and now weren’t exactly the best months, things were tight. This will definitely be a big help.”

Asked about his work, Paddy responded, “I’m a paramedic with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service working between Ballymena and the headquarters.”

He described the workload for crews has been “unbelievable” over the last couple of years.

“I’m sort of at a different end of it now but I see the crews and they’re getting battered,” Paddy added.

On his win, Paddy said, “I’m still in disbelief and the messages are still coming in. Some people have played it back to me which has brought all those feelings back.”

Asked what she was planning to get, Molly said, “I’ve got whatever I want, I don’t need anything else.”

Paddy conceded that the latest IPhone may be one of the items on her wish list.