A mother has died after waiting for nearly two hours for an ambulance, after complaining about severe pain and shortness of breath, before her heartbroken nine-year-old daughter spent hours trying to wake her up.
Victoria Louisa Maame Yamphet, 40, died in her home in Dagenham, east London, last week, in front of her terrified daughters aged 9 and 18.
Her daughter Emmanuela, 18, said her mother came home with the flu on Sunday, January 8, and rapidly declined.
She said: ‘My mum complained about her ribs and belly hurting. I offered to call an ambulance because she isn’t really a sick person and I knew it was bad.’
During the night, Maame, as she was referred to by friends and family, got more severe and at 6.09 am on Tuesday, January 10, her daughter called for an ambulance.
She was initially told the ambulance was six to ten minutes away, but 20 minutes later there was still no ambulance, despite the ambulance strike only happening the next day.
‘I called again and all of a sudden it was an hour wait’, she said.
‘I told them my mum can’t wait that long. I was in distress because I didn’t know what to do.’
She was told at 7.15 am that a taxi would be sent to her house to take her mother to the hospital.
However, the taxi didn’t reach them in time: ‘Before the taxi got to us, her pain got worse. She just stopped breathing in front of me and my little sister.
‘I put her in a recovery position, I did CPR on her. I called the ambulance screaming and crying for them to get here quicker.
‘They literally got here within a minute, and it made me feel like when I really need them to come, they can, but they didn’t until I started screaming and crying.
‘When they came, they did everything they could but it was a bit too late. Because my mother was left for an hour and 45 minutes to be in pain, sadly … she didn’t make it.
‘She suffered from cardiac arrest due to her not being able to breathe properly.’
Maame, the name she went by, worked as a support worker for over 20 years. Her daughter said: ‘It’s very unfair. My mum was a support worker, she always looked after people, but when it was her turn, she wasn’t taken care of.’
The young woman said on top of her disappointment in the ambulance service, she was very distressed when her mother’s body was left at the house with her and her nine-year-old sister Emily for six hours.
She said: ‘My little sister was on the floor next to our mum the whole time. She was crying, shaking her, and trying to wake her up.’
Their father, who works in the NHS, rushed home to his partner and children and when he was told his partner ‘didn’t make it, he literally started breaking down’, his daughter said.
Maame’s daughters, who are both receiving counseling via their schools, are currently staying with their aunt Sally Andrews in south London as she doesn’t want her nieces to stay where their mother died.
Maame’s death comes as ambulance services have just announced further walkouts in February that are due to bring further chaos amid the recent outrage over long NHS waiting times.
Dr. Fenella Wrigley, Chief Medical Officer for London Ambulance Service, said:
‘We are deeply sorry for the delay in responding to Mrs. Yamphet.
‘We are investigating our response to this 999 call and the care provided, and as part of this thorough review, will contact Mrs. Yamphet’s family to understand the circumstances of this incident.
‘On behalf of London Ambulance Service, I offer my sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Mrs. Yamphet.’
The cause of Mrs. Yamphet’s death is yet to be determined. In the meantime, her daughter Emmanuela has set up a fundraising page for her mother’s funeral: ‘We want to give her a befitting burial’, she said.
