A teenager in the UK was found dead after ambulance crews failed to respond to a 999 call - as his devastated family say they are "broken" and have demanded answers.
Bradley Holder, 19, was found dead at the property in Stoke-on-Trent in England on Monday.
He had called for help at 6.12pm the previous night, but West Midlands Ambulance Service was too busy to respond, Stoke-on-Trent Live reports.
READ MORE: Man in his 20s killed in horror Christmas Eve crash in Galway as gardaí close road
A second 999 call - by someone in the house - was made at 9.04am on Monday, and minutes later Brad was pronounced dead at the scene.
The teenager's death is being treated as "unexplained", Staffordshire Police said.
One of his loved-ones said said: "We are broken. He was one of the nicest lads you could ever meet.
"He was just a lovely, lovely kind-mannered lad. We are heartbroken."
The ambulance service says the NHS is 'working incredibly hard to respond more rapidly and save more lives'.
An ambulance service spokesman said: “At the time of the original call - at 6.12pm on Sunday - the trust was experiencing long handover delays at hospitals and had 78 other calls of the same category awaiting dispatch in the county.
"Unfortunately, this meant that we were not able to dispatch an ambulance to Mr Holder at the time.
“A further call - at 9.04am on Monday - was triaged as Category 1 with the first ambulance arriving six minutes later. In total, two ambulances and a paramedic officer attended the scene. On arrival they discovered Mr Holder. Unfortunately, he was confirmed dead at the scene.
“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.”
Anyone who saw Bradley before he passed away should call the police on 101 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.
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