IT was back to business this week for courageous Stroud paramedic Clare Langshaw, who recently returned from a rescue relief mission in earthquake-hit Pakistan.

Images of Clare carrying a toddler from the wreckage of a collapsed block of flats were splashed across the world's media last weekend.

Operating in the capital, Islamabad, Clare was deployed to the region as part of a team of 25 volunteers from Quedgeley-based charity Rapid UK.

A paramedic at Stroud Ambulance Station for ten years, Clare spoke to the SNJ of her feelings of immense relief after the little boy and his mother were successfully saved after contact was lost for 24 hours.

"We thought the mother had fallen unconscious or in the worst case scenario that she may have actually died," she said.

The team persevered and re-established communication using sophisticated equipment to search for the lost pair.

"We found them using a vibraphone that lets us listen to the tiniest noises," she said.

As a paramedic, Clare was needed to assess the child's health. She said: "He was dehydrated but wasn't injured which was great.

"When I had him in my arms I was talking to him and he responded and smiled up at me.

"To discover that we had found them alive and relatively uninjured was brilliant. It was the highlight of the mission."

After just two hours sleep, Clare was then involved in a 16-hour rescue operation which saved two people.

"We didn't get an awful lot of sleep, you just keep going to be honest," said Clare.

Having arrived back in the UK on Thursday as part of a phased withdrawal, Clare has already completed a shift back in Stroud.

"I am very lucky, but I can only go because colleagues at work cover my shifts at very short notice", she added.

She will however be spending time at home in Tewkesbury this week to recuperate.

"Evertime I sleep at the moment it's for about 13 hours," she said.