Paramedics form a guard of honour at the funeral of John Reed

Hundreds of mourners turned up on Wednesday to give a Dagenham paramedic the send-off he deserved.

John Reed

The ambulance service funeral procession for 39-year-old John Reed wound its way from St Andrew’s Church, High Street, Hornchurch, on to the ambulance station at Queen’s Hospital where he worked, before finishing at Romford Cemetery.

Mourners turned out to pay their respects to the paramedic, who lived in Halbutt Street, Dagenham.

He died after a battle with cancer on July 13.

The Romford Royal British Legion Band performed the Last Post for their former member as his coffin was lowered.

Tributes to the heroic paramedic are pouring onto a Facebook group set up in his memory.

His father, John Reed snr, said: “I would like to thank everybody who’s paid tribute to John.

“It’s been a really surprising week, very emotional, but it’s made us very proud of John. It’s just been unbelievable really.”

John, a father of three, was hailed as a hero after he was attacked while on duty and responding to a report of a man lying in the street in Dagenham in 2008.

Romford ambulance operations manager, Paul Gibson, said: “John was a well liked and respected member of the team at Romford ambulance complex, by managers and staff alike.

“Despite bravely fighting a significant illness John was determined to return to helping the people of the area and the job he loved.

“As a mark of his true professionalism and dedication John even applied for promotion in the last year, while very unwell.

“John was proud to be part of the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust and is a great loss to the organisation, his colleagues and the people he served.”