NORTH MUSKEGON, Mich. - Sometimes in life, you just have to pack and go.
That's a daily routine as a Life EMS paramedic. When the medical technicians arrive for their shift, they immediately start loading their rig with everything they'll need to save lives.
"I've been a paramedic since 1986," said Tom Fitzgerald, who also works as a nurse at North Ottawa Community Hospital. "I absolutely love what I do."
While Tom and his partner get on the road, and await to be dispatched to any emergencies, Cheryl Leatherman is also packing and going. She has her uniform on, her gun in her holster, and is getting into her police cruiser.
"I left Life EMS Ambulance about 10 years ago and decided to go into the police academy," said Leatherman, who is an officer with the Walker Police Department.
Tom and Cheryl both work in similar fields -- crisis prevention. They may have separate jobs now but decades ago they didn't.
"Cheryl an I met at Life EMS," Tom said.
The pair became paramedic partners in the early 1990s and worked together almost everyday.
"[Tom] was an excellent paramedic to work with because he really knew his stuff," Cheryl said.
After a couple years as partners, they'd part ways. Cheryl decided to enter the police academy. Tom continued at Life EMS.
More than a decade passed since they had last seen each other. It was in 2012 when Tom located Cheryl on Facebook, the two began a dialogue, which led to them deciding to date.
"I always remembered [Tom] as being cocky and full of himself," joked Cheryl. "He never appealed to me until we reconnected through Facebook."
The one-time paramedic partners would soon decide they wanted to be fulltime life partners and got married. They realized they had more in common than bandages and burn kits.
They both have a passion for camping.
"I'm one of those people that when I camp I like to take everything, including the kitchen sink," said Cheryl.
In the summer of 2017, Tom approached Cheryl with an idea.
"[I asked Cheryl], what do you think about buying an old ambulance and using it to haul all our stuff," said Tom. "She responded by saying, 'that is the stupidest idea I've ever heard,' and thought it was insane."
Cheryl would think about it for a while and eventually change her mind.
"I started to think about the storage possibilities," said Cheryl.
Tom and Cheryl decided to buy the ambulance from Life EMS. The couple would then pack it with everything they could ever need for camping trips.
"Where the patient backboards used to go, we store rugs, tarps and tiki torches," said Tom. "Spatulas now go where the splints used to be."
Tom and Cheryl needed room for their kayaks, so they took out the cabinet where most of the pills used to be stored. That extra space accommodated the length of the kayaks.
"It's basically our mobile garage," said Cheryl.
They took a vehicle that was once used to save life and converted it into a vehicle to live life.
Tom and Cheryl named it, "Campulance."
It has a vanity plate and it's completely covered in artwork and a special logo.
"We really wanted to get something on there to get Life's name on it without using their logo, so we came up with 'Camping Life,'" said Tom.
The other side of the Campulance depicts the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, each sitting in chairs around a campfire roasting s'mores.
"We also have a thin blue line between the black and the red to represent fallen officers," said Cheryl. "I worked with Trevor Slot at the Walker Police Department when he gave his life serving the citizens of this state and I never want to forget that."
The Campulance can't settle at a campsite without quickly catching the attention of other campers.
"Adults love it and always come up to us and ask questions, but it's the questions from kids that are the most entertaining," said Tom.
Tom and Cheryl can't go camping with their Campulance without their mascot -- a wooden bear named Earnest. It's a hand-carved bear they position outside their tent once it's set up.
It kind of gives a whole new meaning to "Earnest goes to camp."
So, let's try and recap all this. Tom and Cheryl met at Life EMS Ambulance; they eventually joined in life (as a married couple); they bought a life-saving vehicle with the hopes of enhancing life.
For Tom and Cheryl, this is the life.
"We have a lot of fun together," said Cheryl.
The couple plans to take their Campulance on several excursions around the state of Michigan this summer. If you see Campulance coming up in your rearview mirror, there's no need to pull over -- let it pass.
When all is said and done, kayaking, cookouts and s'mores qualify as emergencies, at least to Tom and Cheryl.
If you know of a good story that should be profiled on Our Michigan Life, please send a detailed email to 13 On Your Side's Brent Ashcroft at life@wzzm13.com.
