A GREAT-grandmother aged 79 was rushed to hospital on a bin lid in a van by her desperate family after they were told no ambulances were available.
Pamela Rolfe broke her hip walking her dog in the park.
SWNSGreat-grandmother Pamela Rolfe, 79, broke her hip while walking her dog[/caption]
AlamyShe was boarded onto a makeshift bin lid in a van as there was no stretcher and ambulance[/caption]
Her family rang 999 and were told “due to the current crisis she doesn’t qualify for an ambulance”.
They first looked for an ironing board to use as a makeshift stretcher.
But they couldn’t find one, so tore the lid from a grit bin to move her into the back of a van and drive her to A&E.
Mrs Rolfe, of Johnstown, north Wales, was given a bed at Wrexham Maelor Hospital eight hours after her fall and had surgery the next day.
She is still in hospital.
Her daughter Dawn Hamilton said: “It was cold and windy.
“If my mum had been left, she would have died.”
“A man in the park said someone had died on the floor waiting for an ambulance.”
The Welsh Ambulance Service said it was sorry to hear of her experience.