An 11-year-old boy narrowly avoided death after he was impaled on his bike and 999 call handlers told him to wait two hours for an ambulance.
Jayden Blann was riding his mountain bike by a skatepark when he fell off and the sharp handlebars pierced his groin.
Graphic images of Jayden’s injuries show a gaping wound in his leg following the freak accident, which happened on Saturday in Worcester.
Jayden’s frantic mum Daniele, and his dad Craig, dashed to the scene while a passerby dialled 999. However, Daniele was told by an operator that he was not a priority case.
After the couple, from Worcester, were told there would be a two-hour wait for an ambulance, they drove their half-conscious son to A&E themselves.
They arrived at Worcestershire Royal Hospital at around 5pm and minutes later Jayden was graded as an emergency case.
He was immediately transferred on blue-lights to Birmingham Children's Hospital, 30 miles away.
A surgeon told Jayden's parents it was "a miracle" he survived and were shocked that paramedics had not treated him sooner.
Daniele, 30, said: "He was riding his bike in between a parked car and a wall and when he fell, the bike handle went into his groin.
"A family who live in the area looked after him before we arrived. They added pressure on the wound in order to stop the blood flow.
"The ambulance said they would take two hours to come to him so we had to take him to hospital in our car.
"There was blood pouring from his leg. Blood was all over the pavement and the car seats were soaked in it. He lost litres and litres of blood.
"Jayden was in and out of consciousness but the ambulance said they didn't have anyone to send right away.”
Daniele said she had thought that if they waited, her son could die. They subsequently carried him to their car and rushed him to the hospital themselves.
"It took two of us to drive to the hospital,” she said.
"One had to drive and another had to put pressure on the wound.
"If an ambulance had come to the scene, we would have felt more secure because my husband would've gone in the ambulance and I could've sorted the kids out.
"When we arrived at A&E the nurses asked us what the paramedics did on the way and we said we drove and they were shocked.
"They said it was practically unheard of."
Daniele said it was “lucky” they lived on a community street and we knew their neighbours.
At Birmingham Children's Hospital, Jayden underwent surgery to repair the wound.
Health worker Daniele and window cleaner husband Craig, 32, have two other children aged four and five.
Daniele said: "The surgeon was great, but they did say it was a miracle that he's here.
"The fact that he was blue-lighted to Birmingham says it all really.
"I'm cross and upset with the government for all the cuts they have been making.
"At the moment, the NHS is very underfunded, and I know they are doing their best."
Jayden spent the night in hospital before being allowed to return home, where he is now recovering.
Emergency calls are categorised out of four based on seriousness and Jayden's injuries were placed in category two.
West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "The ambulance service relies on each part of the health and social care system working together so that our ambulances can get to patients in the community quickly.
"Sadly the pressures we are seeing in health and social care lead to long hospital handover delays with our crews left caring for patients that need admitting to hospital rather than responding to the next call.
"The result is that our crews are delayed reaching patients.
"We are working incredibly hard with all of our NHS and social care partners to prevent these delays, looking at new ways to safely hand over patients quickly so that our crews can respond more rapidly and save more lives."
