The mother of a 39-year-old who died waiting on an ambulance desperately attempted to save her life by performing CPR with a call handler.
Jody Keenan, 39, had met friends for a night out in Newry on Saturday night, before taking ill on her way home.
Her friends phoned 999, but they were told there would be a wait for crews to arrive as "the only crew available was in Belfast", with the ambulance arriving 45 minutes after the call.
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Her cousin Aoife Finnegan, a Sinn Fein councillor, said Jody's death at such a young age had come as a terrible shock.
Her mother Ursula was informed by police that her daughter had fallen and made her way straight to the scene.
Aoife told Belfast Live that Ursula was actively involved in the attempts to save her daughter's life.
"No mother should have to lean over her daughter's body to perform CPR with a call handler and wait with her dead body for hours for a coroner to take her away," she said.
"It's heart-breaking for any mother to have to witness and her daddy and brother to have to see.
"Not only is it emotional for the family but, the call handler, who had to talk her through that.
"The family would like to thank the call handler for all their efforts and professionalism given the very difficult task."
She paid tribute to her cousin, whom she said had endured health struggles but "faced them all with a smile".
"Jodie was my cousin, she was our family, we loved her very much," she added.
"She was strong, vibrant, clever and so good to her nephew and we're absolutely devastated she's not with us anymore.
"She had her own struggles with health and she faced them all with a smile.
"You couldn't have met a nicer, more genuine person, she was so good to her brothers and mummy and daddy.
"We are devastated as a family that Jody has passed away."
A spokesperson for the NIAS told the BBC that the "planned level of resource in the Southern division on Saturday night was 10 crews".
But only three crews were available for that specific shift.
"As NIAS manages the service on a regional basis with the closest available ambulance responding to the next most clinically urgent call, crews from other divisions will have responded to calls in the southern division," their statement continued.
"NIAS also had three A&E support crews and one independent ambulance crew available to complement the emergency crews.
"NIAS would like to apologise to patients and their careers for any delays experienced as a result of reduced cover on Saturday night."
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