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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Anna Willis & Graeme Murray

Mum died after ambulance took two hours to arrive despite daughter calling 999 four times

A mum was left dead on the floor for six hours it is claimed after her daughter called four times for an ambulance.

Victoria Louisa Maame Yamphet had a cardiac arrest on January 10, but it is claimed the ambulance took almost two hours to reach her home.

London Ambulance Service has apologised and said it "deeply sorry for the delay".

Mrs Maame's daughter, Emmanuella, 18, said at around 6am her mum became unwell with a stomach ache.

EssexLive reports Emmanuella called an ambulance and was allegedly told would take between 6 and 10 minutes to arrive.

But at 6.30am, the family claim it still hadn't arrived. Emmanuella then called back and was told to wait another 20 minutes.

But by 7am, she was getting desperate and called again, when she was allegedly told she was going to have to wait for an hour for an ambulance.

Victoria Louisa Maame Yamphet died after allegedly waiting for nearly two hours for an ambulance (Facebook)

Emmanuella said: "And during all this time, Mum was still in pain."

It is also claimed that one of the paramedics ended up calling her back and said they had sent a taxi to her house as it was taking so long for the ambulance to arrive.

She added: "He said that normally he wouldn't really do this for anyone, but he could hear that Mum was in a lot of pain."

The taxi was expected to arrive at around 7.26am, but didn't turn up until later.

At 7.40am, Maame, 40, went into cardiac arrest and Emmanuella called the ambulance service for a fourth time, "screaming and shouting for help."

She began CPR and the paramedics arrived a minute later, she claimed.

Emmanuella said. "My little sister's there and I'm just trying to do anything that I could just to hold her back and she's crying and I'm just confused, all over the place - just trying to help get mum back alive again."

Maame was declared dead at 8.55am, despite the best efforts of her daughter and the paramedics.

But Emmanuella claimed they left Maame's body on the floor of the house for the next six hours.

Emmanuella said: "After she passed away, she was left on the floor for six hours with me and my little sister (aged 9) in the room.

"My little sister would go to her to try and wake her up, crying."

Maame's body was only moved when the police arrived and called an undertaker.

Her daughter Emmanuela,18 (Facebook)

Emmanuella said: "I felt like I wasn't being prioritised, like she wasn't being prioritised.

"When it's her, she's more than willing to look after people but when it was her turn she wasn't given the same care that she would give to people."

Maame was a support worker who was also a family lady, a mum of three, a wife, an aunt and a sister.

Emmanuella has now set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to raise money for her mother's funeral.

She said: "Mum was always doing things for others.

"It would be nice for me to just do something small or like get contributions from people that can help support in raising funds for her funeral."

Emmanuella said: "Now I'm OK because I have support from my auntie, but it's still the reason I cry all the time. Even though I try to be strong for my little sister, so she doesn't have to cry."

Dr Fenella Wrigley, chief medical officer for London Ambulance Service, said: “We are deeply sorry for the delay in responding to Mrs Yamphet.

"We are investigating our response to this 999 call and the care provided and as part of this thorough review, will contact Mrs Yamphet’s family to understand the circumstances of this incident.

“On behalf of London Ambulance Service, I offer my sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Mrs Yamphet.”

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