I had been fighting my demons for years.. but fighting fires saved me
Boss on turning life around
Heather Greenaway He is used to going into burning buildings and saving lives but firefighter Paul Blackwood said the job saved him from himself.
Af ter losing his mum to breast cancer when he was just seven years old, Paul ’s life spiralled out of control. He was excluded from primary school and, by the age of 12, the authorities were threatening to take him into care.
In the years that followed, Paul, from Glasgow’s Govanhill, went completely off the rai ls – losing friends to drugs and at one point ending up in a homeless hostel. Married at 19, he later became a single dad and turned his life around to pursue his dream of being a firefighter.
Now a Group Commander, he’s part of a mentoring p rog r amme for teenagers to help t hem overcome challenges and fulfil their ambitions. Paul , 49, sa id : “The day I became a firefighter was one of the proudest moments of my life. I have made poor choices in my life but joining the Fire Service was definitely one of the best.
“The day I became a dad, I knew I had to turn my life around so I could provide for my sons and give them a future.
“I grew up not far from the station in Govanhill and had wanted to be a firefighter from the minute I saw an engine roaring up Alison Street.
“Life and bad decisions during my childhood and teenage years got in the way of my dream for a while but I found my way back. I’m now proud to be able to use my past experiences to mentor young people who find themselves on the wrong path, like I did, and show them you can change and there is hope.”
Paul, who oversees nine stations in Ayrshire, admits it was the death of his mum that triggered his bad behaviour. The former Holyrood High School pupil said: “I was a product of my environment. I grew up the youngest of six and my mum Helen died of breast cancer aged 42, when I was just seven years old.
“It was after she passed that I started to get into trouble. Looking back on it, I realise I was grieving but did not know how to express it.
“I started getting into fights at primary school and was excluded three times. I was constantlyntly in trouble, so much so that whenen I was 12 the Children’s Panel told my dad I could be placed in care.
“My dad fought the casese and tried to steer me on to thee right path but he was on his own raising six kids and needed to workrk and, when he was out, I would runn wild.”
Paul, who lives with his second wife Trish, 51, in Giffnock, added: dded: “The older I got, the more of a tearaway I became and, d, although I loved high school, ol,
I got excluded on twice. As a teenager, there were times when I went completely off ff the rails and at one point I
ADVICE Paul now mentors teens to help them fulfil their goals lost two close friends to drugs, which was very tough.
“I also married at a young age, 19, and had my two boys – but the marriage didn’t last and at one point I ended up in a homeless hostel.
“When the boys were nine and 12, I found myself as a single father with no real qualifications or skills.”
Despite being turned down in the past, Paul kept reapplying to the Fire Service and, after 10 years, he was finally accepted – becoming a wholetime (based at a station rather than being on call) firefighter on March 3, 1999, at the age of 27.
He managed to juggle his job and be a full-time dad to Paul Jr, now 30, and Kieran, 28.
He said: “In the Fire Service, you have great people around you who are willing to support you – from managers down to your colleagues. They all gave me the support wherever possible to balance my shifts with looking after my boys.
“My dad was my rock after mum died and being a firefighter allowed me to be there to support my boys and give them a good start in life.
“My eldest son Paul became a f irefighter two years ago after serving in Afghanistan as a British Army sniper and Kieran is a gas engineer with his own firm. I could not be prouder of them.”
Paul, who gained a degree after joining the Fire Service, now helps yyounggppeoplep throughg the MCR Pathways mentoring programme.program
He said: “What we say to thethem is what you are experiencing nowno is not you for the rest of your life – you have options. Joining the serservice is one of those options.”
The service’s recruitmentrecruitm campaign – We Are SFRS… You Are SFRS – aims to attract mmore applications from women, etethnic minorities and the LGBTQ+LGB community. Director Liz BaBarnes said: “We pride ourselves on workingwor at the heart of communities to keep people safe so it’s imperaimperative we reflect the diversitydive of those commcommunitt ies ..”” PPaul added: “Look what the servicservice did for mme – it was a lifechanger.”chan