A RETIRED Langho paramedic has received an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Central Lancashire after a 34-year career.

Adrian Conboy, 55, trained as a nurse in the ’70s before becoming a paramedic in 1979.

Adrian, who has lived in Langho all his life, said that he was ‘absolutely thrilled to bits’ after picking up the honour at the ceremony.

The dad-of-two and granddad-of-one was the first paramedic in Blackburn in the late 1980s.

He was also given an honorary fellowship at the College of Paramedics last year.

His last role was working at the headquarters in Bolton after decades working in ambulances and fast response vehicles across East Lancashire.

Adrian met his wife, Margaret, when they were training as nurses in the 1970s and they are looking forward to spending their first Christmas and New Year together.

Adrian said: “The Christmas and New Year period are extremely busy for the NHS so we have never had the time off together.

“I’m very proud of what I have achieved during my career and it was very special picking up the award on Tuesday.

“I have worked across East Lancashire and I enjoyed being a paramedic every day.

“It was very rewarding working with your patients every day.”

A spokeswomen from UCLan said: “This pioneering paramedic was hugely instrumental in the creation of the service and the training of its people.

“He worked with UCLan in 2004 to develop the first ever BSc paramedic degree programme and later became an associate paramedic lecturer practitioner.”