 Westaby was raised on a council estate in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.In his autobiography, "Fragile Lives", he claims inspiration for his career aspirations partly from watching the BBC medical documentary "Your Life In Their Hands" on the family's black and white television, and the harrowing first-hand perspective he had of his grandfather's deteriorating and subsequently fatal heart failure.He attended Henderson Avenue Junior School and Scunthorpe Grammar School (now The St Lawrence Academy).