Father Daughter EMS Duo Saves Lives In York County

ROCK HILL, S.C. — For our first responders the emergencies don’t stop coming and they don’t stop rescuing. For that, many are thankful during this national EMS week.

One father daughter duo says they’re not doing the work for thank you in return, as they team up to save lives in York County.

Many first responders will agree it takes a special person to want to save lives working with EMS, Chris Channell believes it takes a servant’s heart.

That servant’s heart came easy for Chris, practically passed down to him from his father who also worked with Piedmont EMS, right along side another relative.

“The lady I ended up marrying, her dad was a paramedic, and our dad were paramedic partners here at Piedmont,” Chris said.

He’s keeping the family tradition going, and now works to save lives with his own daughter, Brooklyn Channell, by his side.

Brooklyn says her father works on a different ambulance but the two often end up on the same calls, and sometimes run into more family members.

“My mom’s an EMT as well, and my brother is a firefighter. So it’s just kind of all in the family,” Brooklyn said.

She overcame cancer at a young age, and says it gave her more reason to want to help. With family close by she feels there’s no emergency she can’t overcome. Brooklyn finds comfort and help from those closest to her.

“Having my family and they know, like, everything and how to talk about everything, it made it a lot easier,” Brooklyn said.

The duo says they aren’t looking for a thank you while on the job, but during the ongoing EMS week responders say a little appreciation can go a long way.

“Just a simple thank you, it means the world to me and to everybody else,” Chris said.

Piedmont EMS has four more pairs of relatives who work together as responders, which makes the full 170 rescuer team feel even more like a true family.