Players carry rugby star into hospital after 3-hour wait for an ambulance
A RUGBY league player in agony with a broken leg was taken to hospital on the team bus after waiting in vain for an ambulance for three hours.
Will Hope’s team-mates carried him on to the coach and then into A&E.
The forward who was playing for Swinton Lions in the Championship, the second tier of the sport in England, was injured in the first minute of their match at Sheffield Eagles, and was driven to casualty after the game.
He said: “I [was] on a stretcher in the changing room corridors for three hours waiting for an ambulance that didn’t come...
“I can not describe the agony I was in, and the anger I still have about the whole situation.”
Will, 25, was taken 75 miles on the bus from Sheffield to his local hospital the Salford Royal. The Ireland international, who also dislocated an ankle, said his foot was “facing the wrong way for up to five hours”.
He added: “It is an absolute disgrace to be treated like that... because it ‘wasn’t a priority’.”
Jackie Cole, of Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “We are very sorry for the distress caused by our delayed response. The call was received during an extremely busy period and we were doing our best to respond as quickly as possible to all patients who needed assistance.”
The Rugby Football League said it is investigating and has asked the Eagles for comment.
Will, injured in Greater Manchester club Swinton’s first league game of the season, has now had reconstructive surgery but may be out for the year.