Being an ambulance officer while the nation is in the grip of a pandemic is extremely hectic, but that hasn't stopped Melissa Bayntun from carrying on a family tradition to help her local community — by sewing hundreds of face masks.
The paramedic from Gin Gin near Bundaberg does it all for free.
"Without doing [fundraising] it feels odd, and I've always told my girls, 'We don't give because we have a lot, we give because I know what it feels like not to have'," Ms Bayntun said.
After 21 years of working for the Queensland Ambulance Service, Ms Bayntun has been dubbed the 'Sewing Ambo' and received lots of love online.
"I had a few spare minutes at home, and I just thought I would make what I had out of my scrap fabric, and of course it just evolved," she said.
"I did nearly 600 in three weeks."
The act of giving back to the community is a concept Ms Bayntun has always known.
"I've always been a community worker, but that's just how I was brought up," she said.
Carrying on her Mum's legacy
The veteran sewer has made easy work of the face masks, after years of sewing her own clothes, and says she can make one now in "just under 10 minutes".
"I got taught [sewing] by my beautiful late mother at a very young age. Growing up I had all handmade clothes that were one of a kind," Ms Bayntun said.
After working through the scrap material collection and a few rolls of fabric donated by friends, Ms Bayntun began buying material to make more masks.
Whether it was in the back of an ambulance or in the sewing room, Ms Bayntun made no plans to stop servicing her community.
"I am more than happy to help out," she said.
"I've been stationed at Gin Gin for 13 years next month, it seems to have gone pretty quick.
