A son who spent four hours crossing the country to reach his injured mother still got there before her ambulance.
Mark Clements, 48, caught a bus, two Tube services and two trains as he raced 180 miles from London to Devon.
His 77-year-old mother Margaret was lying stricken on her conservatory floor after breaking a hip in a fall.
A 999 call was made two hours before Mr Clements set out and the nearest ambulance station was only ten minutes away.
Mark Clements (pictured) raced to see his mother after her fall but an ambulance took seven hours
Mark Clements managed to get to his mother in Exmouth before an ambulance did
Yet he arrived first, joining other family members.
Paramedics turned up an hour later, meaning his mother endured an agonising wait of seven hours.
The extraordinary story highlights concerns about overstretched ambulance services.
The Daily Mail revealed in December that tens of thousands of emergency patients, including heart attack and stroke victims, were suffering delays of more than 60 minutes.
Mr Clements said by the time the ambulance arrived his mother was so cold and distressed she wanted to die. ‘How do you comfort somebody when they’re in so much pain?’ he added. ‘That was the problem.
'We were all just waiting, everybody was looking out the window thinking surely the ambulance is going to come now. But hour after hour just passed by.
'My mother has always been a very strong person but to see her looking so vulnerable – it was heartbreaking.
‘Despite our attempts to keep her warm, my mother was extremely cold, distressed and in so much pain that she said she just wanted to die. It was really hard on my father. He was very worried.’
Mr Clements said: My mother has always been a very strong person but to see her looking so vulnerable – it was heartbreaking.'
The first 999 call was made at 9am and Mr Clements left his home in Brixton shortly before midday, reaching his mother’s home in Exmouth – 178 miles away – by 3pm. Paramedics arrived at 4pm.
Family
