Paramedics once forbidden to talk with media have broken their silence on The Project.
They say they love their job, but claim ranking frontline staff nowadays are paid less than entry-level paramedics 10 years ago.
So while they are out there saving our lives, they're struggling to save their own.
You can't put a price on what paramedics did for Paul, who lost an extreme amount of blood.
"A piece of glass [was] in my arm. There was a lot of blood, we are talking horror movie amounts of blood," Paul says.
"Luckily a friend of mine called St John. If it wasn't for them I simply wouldn't be here."
But even heroes, like paramedics, still need to make a proper living.
Working up to 14 hour shifts they are the only ones in the health sector not paid night shift and weekends rates.
This isn't just unfair to workers, it's actually dangerous to the rest of us - and the union says many people are leaving St John going overseas for better pay and working conditions, which stretches the workload even thinner.
St John wouldn't appear on camera, but told The Project: "We have made an offer that we believe is fair given our current funding arrangements and ahead of a full workforce review."
In an unprecedented move, now-desperate paramedics have broken St John's long-standing gag order using strike action rules to speak exclusively to The Project.
It's not just the brave four that spoke to The Project that are making a stand, either.
The Project has received several messages, one reading: "When you're dying you call them for help, but who can they call?"
They have always been there for us, but now its time that they need the help.
Watch the video above for the full report.
Newshub.
