FORK ON THE ROAD

PEOPLE

Seeing double

In Lake County, a set of twin first responders are ready and raring to save the day, but can you tell them apart?

STORY: ROXANNE BROWN ≈ PHOTOS: NICOLE HAMEL

s kids, twin brothers Zach and Austin Sullivan frequently caused confusion since they looked so very much alike. “They (the twins) went to a Montessori school in Leesburg and every morning the teacher would greet the students, so one day she greeted Zach and he went to his desk but then there comes Austin, which confused the teacher. She said she wondered how Zach had gotten out without her noticing,” Paula Sullivan, Zach and Austin’s mother, recalls with a chuckle.

Zach and Austin could pass for each other, but what really stood out was the tight bond they shared, how they loved spending time together and always looked out for one another.

“They always did well on their own in the classroom, but the teacher said they would always nd and go straight to each other at playtime and just stay together the whole time,” Paula says.

Paula adds, “They were very di erent in their own ways, but they were very close and in tune with each other.”

Yet they had their own tastes and personalities.

Growing up, Austin, the older twin by one minute, with his Type-A personality and preference for trendy clothes from places like Hollister, was considered the family’s “city boy.” Zach, who was calmer, laid back, and perfectly happy in Levi’s jeans and boots, was considered their “country boy.”

Today, the 28-year-old Sullivan twins continue to have much in common... yet they are distinctly di erent.

The brothers still look very much alike, which on occasion causes confusion at work. However, they live very di erent and separate lives. For instance, they have di erent hobbies – Zach likes bow hunting and Austin enjoys ying drones. Still, they talk every day without fail, and still look out for one another.

To top it o , they are both rst responders, a profession both got into on a whim, but their di erent taste in clothing has never been so pronounced. That’s because Zach wears a Lake County Sheri O ce (LCSO) deputy uniform, and Austin sports a Lake EMS paramedic’s uniform.

The brothers are Lake County’s only known twin rst responders.

“There have been brothers and sisters, but there are no other twins that I know of,” says LCSO Sgt. Dave McDaniel, Zach’s supervisor.

Lake EMS Deputy Director John Simpson, who works with Austin, says he’s experienced the confusion that follows the twins.

“I had a person come to me and say, ‘I didn’t know Austin left to become a deputy,’ and I personally had to do a double take one day when I saw his brother in a deputy uniform on the side of the road doing some work on a call,” Simpson says.

Zach and Austin say they personally don’t think they look that much alike. They nd humor in such incidents.

“We work di erent sides of the county, but in the past, we have been on a couple of calls together and you can see the weird looks on people’s faces and you can tell they want to say something,” Zach says.

They both, however, understand how people who don’t know them well could confuse them.

“Austin is a little taller and has a little more weight on him, but people who don’t see us every day de nitely do double takes. If he could wear my uniform, I guess he would look a lot like me,” Zach says. He then added: “I’ve had re ghters talk to me like I was their friend and I’ve nally had to say, ‘I have no idea who you are.’ Then they realize that, ‘Oh hey, it’s his brother.’ Austin has similar stories.

So how can you tell who’s who? Zach shares a few secrets: he is right-handed, Austin is a lefty, and now has a full sleeve tattoo on one arm. And just a couple months ago, he started wearing glasses.

People who know he has a twin continue to tell Austin that they saw his brother. What really gets him is when people ask him what it’s like having a twin.

“I say, I don’t know what it’s like NOT having a twin,” Austin says. “When you have siblings who are older or younger you kind of grow up in di erent timeframes, but it’s never been that way