David (87) breaks his pelvis and has to wait 15 hours for an ambulance: his children build a shelter with umbrellas and football goal | Abroad

EnglandOn Monday evening, 87-year-old David Wakeley suffered a nasty fall on his terrace in Cornwall. The Englishman suffered fractures to his pelvis and ribs, among other things. The emergency services were alerted, but only a day later the very elderly man was picked up by an ambulance. His family is furious. “We kept calling to ask where the ambulance was, but were always turned away,” complains son Phil (58).

According to Phil, it was a “terrible situation”, but everyone did their utmost to help the injured 80-year-old, including putting pillows under him. It wasn’t cold outside, but rain was forecast, so the family built a shelter to help David – who also battles prostate cancer – spend the night as comfortably as possible.

The children and children-in-law had a football goal approached from the neighbors. In the garage Phil found a tarpaulin that he stretched over the goal and with three umbrellas they closed the remaining holes.


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The public health system is simply broken. It seems like nobody cares and nobody is willing to fix it

David’s son-in-law Travis

Mother

David’s daughter Karen shared a photo of the makeshift camp on Twitter, after which British media picked up the story. “An 87-year-old man who has to wait so long on a cold floor for help, that’s no fun. I can assure you that,” says David’s family. Because of his prostate cancer, the old man has a stoma. “We had to empty it all night. In the meantime, we tried to keep up the spirits with my father”, says Phil.

He and his sister insisted that their mother go to sleep, but the 82-year-old woman was too upset and also stayed up all night with David.

Hospital

The emergency services were first notified about 7:34 p.m. on Monday, and the family did not see an ambulance arrive until 11 a.m. the next day. David is currently still in hospital. The fall left the 87-year-old man with two fractures to the pelvis, seven broken ribs, abrasions to the head and a wound to the arm. His children “hope and pray” that he will come through this.

87-year-old David Wakeley in better times. © Cornwall Live

Answers

Meanwhile, the family demands answers. Because how is it possible that she had to wait no less than 15 hours for help? According to David’s son-in-law, “the public health system is just broken”. “It seems like nobody cares and nobody is willing to fix it.” National Health Service (NHS) staff are doing their best, Travis says, but the question is how things like this can keep happening.

Unfortunately, David’s story is not an isolated case in England. After the wakeley family’s cry for help, many Twitterers shared personal stories on the internet. For example, one person reported that his father had fallen into the house last week and had been lying on the kitchen floor with a head injury for 11 hours, waiting for help. The man is a diabetic. His wife sat next to him the whole time to stop the bleeding and keep his glucose levels up.

“Huge pressure”

A spokesman for the NHS Regional Ambulance Service said he was shocked by David’s story. “We are shocked and wish to apologize for the ordeal this 87-year-old gentleman has endured. Every day our doctors do their best for patients, but the healthcare workers are under enormous pressure. We are working with our partners within the NHS and social care in Cornwall and are doing everything we can to improve this.”

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