Their careers have taken them in very different directions, but twin brothers Lieutenant Colonel Phill Moxey and NHS surgeon Paul Moxey have now joined forces in the fight against coronavirus.
In a huge coincidence, the two are on a joint mission to save lives at the new NHS Nightingale hospital in London.
Lt Col Moxey led a team which helped turn London’s ExCel Centre into a 4,000-bed hospital.
And now his brother Paul, a highly respected vascular surgeon at the capital’s St George’s Hospital, is on call to aid the new hospital’s medical team.
Lt Col Moxey and his twin brother Paul Moxey who have both helped support the NHS
NHS Nightingale received its first patients this week after it was built by soldiers, NHS workers and contractors in just nine days.
The Suffolk-born brothers, 42, made radically different career choices as children and this is the first time their individual skills, honed over decades, have been brought together in one mission.
Lt Col Moxey, older of the two brothers by 20 minutes, said: ‘It’s not lost on either of us the apparent utter contrast in our chosen professions – soldier vs surgeon.
‘But both roles have taken many years of experience to get to and both have required a degree of sacrifice, patience and tolerance on the home front.’
The married father of three, who has twin boys and has served in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, added: ‘Neither of us could have got to where we are without the support of our families.
‘Both roles require calmness under pressure, leadership and constant education.
‘How we find perspective, maintain self-discipline, willingly take sensible risks day in and day out but ultimately never give up and keep the needs of our nation at the forefront, are the similarities.’
At its peak, there were up to 200 soldiers from five different Army units helping to build the new temporary hospital.
Phil (left) and Paul (right) Moxey. Paul is a vascular surgeon working at St Georges hospital and his brother Phil helped to build the NHS Nightingale hospital at Excel Centre
As the build phase now comes to an end, the battalion will remain alongside NHS staff for support. Lt Col Moxey, MBE QCVS, Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment – or ‘The Vikings’ – said: ‘Our soldiers have thrown themselves into this effort with passion and energy to make sure our teammates across government and, most importantly, the NHS get what they need.
‘We have had their backs from the start and we will stay in it with them together until the end.’
The lieutenant colonel’s twin brother Paul will be on call to help NHS Nightingale’s medical staff, ready to review patients at a moment’s notice.
Mr Moxey, married to a nurse and also a father of three, said: ‘I think the Nightingale is a triumph for the NHS and the Army team that have put it together so quickly.
‘It shows what we can do as a country when we put our minds to it and has taught the NHS a lot about breaking out of the silos we all work in and collaborating with other teams to achieve a common goal.
‘Long may it continue after Covid is defeated.’
Paul said his work now during the pandemic was very different from his normal day-to-day activity.
He added: ‘Our junior doctors have been taken to support intensive care, so we have had to relearn the administrative tasks that dog a junior doctor’s life.
‘Having said that, there is a great atmosphere of camaraderie and team work at St George’s.’
The pair say they both fell in love with their careers as children. While Lt Col Phill was set on the Army, his brother committed to becoming a surgeon after completing work experience at Papworth Hospital, Cambridgeshire.
It was there he witnessed Sir Terence English, who led the team that performed Britain’s first successful heart transplant, carry out open heart surgery.
Mr Moxey said: ‘I was blown away by the surgery, the technology and the teamwork and I made my mind up at that point that medicine was what I wanted to do.’
The brothers said the best way to meet the needs of the nation right now are for as many of us as possible to stay at home.
They boarded at the £10,794-aterm independent Framlingham College in Suffolk. Phill went to Bristol University and Paul went to Imperial College School of Medicine and St George’s University of London.
They also have a younger brother Sam, who also served for five years in 1 Royal Anglian and left as a lance corporal.
Phill was awarded the MBE in 2015 for his Army service.