A great-grandfather who was "dying" from sepsis was taken to hospital in a police van when an ambulance failed to turn up, his family claims. Retired butcher John Thomas, who is described as a "loving family man", fell ill and went to his GP in Clydach, Swansea, to be checked over on Wednesday, October 26.
His daughter Jan James, who was with him throughout the harrowing ordeal, said doctors advised that he be admitted to Morriston Hospital with suspected sepsis as he was "shaking profusely" and had a very fast heart rate. But after several departments were called, none of which could offer the 82-year-old a bed, it was agreed that the pensioner be taken to Singleton Hospital by ambulance directly from the practice.
However it is claimed a 999 call operator warned it would take "four to six hours" for a crew to reach him, so Jan was faced with having to drive her severely unwell dad to the hospital himself around 30 minutes away. It turned out, Jan claims, to be one of the worst experiences of her life.
Read more: Grandfather, 79, waits 15 hours on urine-soaked floor for ambulance to arrive
"[The doctors] said I needed to take my dad to hospital straight away and that we couldn't afford to wait that long for an ambulance. I was told that he was septic and he was being violently sick," she recalled.
"I was told that if he deteriorated while we were in the car to pull over and ring 999 immediately. As I passed by the Swansea.com stadium my father slumped over in the car and onto me. At this point I was screaming. I managed to pull over by some houses on the left hand side. I tried to push him up but he was unresponsive. The sweat was pouring off him and he was delirious, drifting in and out of consciousness."
On Foxhole Road, where she'd pulled over, Jan said she called 999 and was told it would be between a three and five-hour wait for an ambulance. "I was crying and shaking myself. I was saying to them 'my dad's going to die, please come and help me'."
However, as Jan looked in her rear view mirror she could see a police van and ran over to the officer standing nearby. "I could see that he was putting someone in his van. I went over crying my eyes out and asked him for help," she said.
"He took my phone and spoke to the 999 call handler himself to explain how poorly my dad was. The officer was so heroic. He made the decision to call for backup, which was blue-lighted to us in 10 minutes, his colleagues took the man away in their van and we managed to get my dad in the back of the officer's van and get him to Singleton."
When they arrived at the hospital, Jan said a team of clinicians were waiting to take over the care of her father. "Staff came from everywhere and treated him straight away. They were amazing. The registrar said my dad was in a very bad way and that he was lucky to still be here. I took that to mean that the police officer saved his life.
"The officer didn't leave my side until another family member joined me at the hospital. I cannot thank him enough for what he has done. I only know him as Steve, and I would love to say thank-you to him in person. To me he was heroic and so caring. Sadly he said they do this sort of thing quite often."
Jan said John, an avid Swansea City fan who is expecting his 16th great-grandchild soon, was diagnosed with urinary sepsis and remains in hospital where he is receiving antibiotics. "It was the most traumatic experience I've ever been through in my entire life. I was absolutely petrified," she added. "My father is the most loving man who would do anything for anybody. He is my absolute world."
In response Darren Panniers, head of service for the Emergency Medical Service in the South East said: "We are deeply sorry to hear of Mr Thomas’ experience, and we would like to also extend our apologies to his daughter. Prolonged handover delays are sadly a recurring issue, which means we cannot always get to patients in the community as quickly as we would like.
"We would like to thank our police service colleagues who were able to get Mr Thomas to hospital and wish him a speedy recovery. We would invite Mr Thomas or a representative to contact us directly if they would like to discuss their experience in more detail."
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