Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
999 apology as bike fall girl left lying for 2 hours
Ambulance service delay after suspected back injury
A FAMILY has received an apology from the ambulance service after their daughter was left lying with a suspected back injury for two hours.
Erin Hughes, 12, was cycling down a hill in Groomsport, Co Down, with mum Emma on Friday when her gears seized and she tumbled off her bike.
Worried her daughter might have broken bones, her mum called for medical advice and was told not to move her daughter.
The NI Ambulance Service said it received its first 999 call about the incident just before 6.40pm.
It was classed as a Category B (potentially serious but not immediately lifethreatening) call, which should be responded to in 21 minutes.
But the youngster was left lying on the grass until 8.44pm when the ambulance arrived on scene.
A spokesman for the NIAS said: “We are truly sorry for this and would be willing to meet with the parents to discuss the situation with them.”
Erin is now recovering at home and suffered whiplash and a lower back injury.
Mrs Hughes praised the ambulance crew who did arrive at the scene and said the staff were amazing but added: “How can you justify keeping a child on damp grass for that length of time?”
Ulster Unionist MLA Alan Chambers went to assist the family when he became aware of the situation.
He said: “I was quite angry, the child had been lying on the grass for two hours.”
How can you justify keeping a child on damp grass for that length of time?
EMMA HUGHES CO DOWN YESTERDAY