A Spalding mum has spoken of the traumatic 45 minutes she tried to calm her two-year-old son as he gasped for breath while waiting for an ambulance.
Alisha Townsend said she was trying to hold Logan steady on the floor while dialling 999 and then discovering the first ambulance sent from Bourne had got lost.
Speaking back at her home in Cook Drive yesterday (Thursday), she said: “Another ambulance was sent from King’s Lynn because the first one was lost driving up and down St John’s Road, which is behind me, because the sat nav wasn’t working.
“I can’t thank the crew from King’s Lynn enough. They and my family from Weston got here before the first ambulance. It’s disgraceful. We are thinking of making an official complaint.”
The Spalding Guardian was contacted about the length of time the ambulance took by Mrs Townsend’s father, David Sampson, after the 999 call was made at about 8.30pm.
He said: “You can’t imagine what it’s like having your daughter at the end of a phone saying ‘Dad I’m going to lose him’.
“Why wasn’t there an ambulance in Spalding? You hear of elderly people dying waiting for an ambulance, but what if it was a two-year-old. I’m certainly considering going to MP John Hayes with this.”
As Mrs Townsend, who is seven months pregnant, was waiting for the ambulance her husband, Jack, had broken down on the M25 trying to get home from London.
She said: “He had to wait from 8.30pm to 3.30am for the RAC to turn up. It was all a complete nightmare.
“Logan was released from hospital at 2am after being given oxygen and steroids. The doctor said he had the worse case of croup he had seen. His airways were blocked which is why he needed oxygen. But apart from when he coughs, he seems to be getting there.”
l The Spalding Guardian was still awaiting a response from the East Midlands Ambulance Service at the time of going to press.