The Cornwall paramedic using her annual leave to go to the Poland-Ukraine border

A paramedic from Cornwall is using her annual leave to take medical supplies to the border of Poland and Ukraine.

Faye Shepherd, from Bodmin, is joining a convoy of seven ambulances due to set off from Cheltenham today (March 15).

The former NHS vehicles are to be driven by volunteers and will be filled with medical supplies.

The convoy was organised by management consultant Khaled El Mayet, 38, from Cheltenham.

He said: "When you see what's happening to children and the elderly, it spurred me to help."

Mr El Mayet originally planned to raise money for four ambulances but ended up with seven after his fundraiser took off.

"This has taken over my life," he said. "We're lucky to get two or three hours of sleep because of this project.

"When something like this happens, ambulances are vital.

"This is something that really will help. With every day that goes by there will be more and more lives lost.

"I want to thank everyone who has donated and chipped in for these ambulances. It represents a massive collective effort."

• Paramedic Faye Shepherd speaks to ITV News

Faye told ITV News: "I don't know if you can prepare for something like that. Obviously I've seen things in my job that have given me a sense of what to expect for myself and how to react.

"But I really don't know how I'm going to react to see people. I think I'll just want to scoop them up and help but there's only so much you can do."