A mum endured a 'traumatic' eight-hour wait for an ambulance when her son became 'completely unresponsive' and carried out lifesaving treatment herself.
Georgia Faith Johnson called 999 when her two-year-old son collapsed into a terrifying coma - only to be told about the agonising wait she would face for paramedics to arrive.
She loaded the stricken infant into her car and began driving him to hospital, but had to pull over and carry out lifesaving treatment by the roadside.
Georgia was helped by other motorists and eventually, by pure chance, the crew of an ambulance who happened to be passing by.
Ambulance chiefs have apologised to the 26-year-old, who called for help when her son Tobias started to suffer a seizure at home.
Little Tobias collapsed before his eyes began "rolling to the back of his head, his body was jerking and he was completely unresponsive."
Single mum Georgia, of Cardiff, spoke to a call handler who told her there would be an eight-hour wait for an ambulance.
So she jumped into her car and drove her son t hospital before he took a turn for the worse just five minutes later.
She said: "I looked back to my son in his car seat to see any mum's worst nightmare, my son's colour had drained from his face, his lips blue and he was completely floppy and lifeless."
Georgia pulled over to call 999 again and was told to check if her son was still breathing.
She said: "Out of instinct I just reached behind me, unplugged him from his car seat and dragged him into the front seat to see that his breathing was going ten to the dozen.
"At this point a man had pulled over into the bus lane, where I was, and started assisting me straight away.
"The call handler for 999 told me that I needed to get him out of the car and lay him flat on his back, on the ground and ask for someone nearby to get a defibrillator."
Georgia said it was "completely impossible" to get to a defibrillator machine because they were stuck on a dual carriageway.
She added "The man and the younger boy both assisted me with this and even provided a fleecy blanket from their van so that my son would be more comfortable on the cold road.
"Still on the phone to the call handler who was just listening to this all unravel, I then begged for her to just send an ambulance to which she responded that there was still a five-hour wait and there was nothing that she could do.
"Obviously at this point I was completely besides myself and felt absolutely helpless.
"This is when another two kind people jumped into helping us bring my son back around (at this point the seizure had been going on for over half an hour), one of these was a lady trained in first aid who managed to get my son into the recovery position and another man who worked for the fire department in Roath.
"Once in the recovery position, my son came around and started crying, which was of course music to my ears."
Georgia believes someone "must have been watching over us" because an ambulance and two paramedics saw them and jumped into action to help.
She said: "A random ambulance and two paramedics that were also stuck in the traffic saw us and also jumped into action to help my little boy.
They pulled him onto the truck and "blue lighted" them to hospital, where he "needed sedating to stop the seizure that had been going on for over an hour."
Tobias is now recovering after being treated at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
Georgia said the experience left her feeling "completely helpless and desperate."
She added: "To think I could be in that situation again is just petrifying."
Sonia Thompson, the Welsh Ambulance Service’s Assistant Director of Operations, said: “We are deeply sorry about Georgia’s experience, which we know will have been distressing and fraught for all involved.
“Extreme pressure on our ambulance service, including protracted hospital handover delays, seriously affects our ability to reach patients as quickly as we would like.
“We continue to work with Local Health Board and Welsh Government partners to try and implement meaningful and sustainable change.
“The public can help by only calling 999 in a serious or life-threatening emergency, so that our precious resources are available for those who need us most.
“We invite Georgia to contact our Putting Things Right team so we can investigate the incident further, and send her son our best wishes on his continued recovery.”
