A HEARTBROKEN mother is hoping for answers today after claiming she was forced to wait 30 minutes for an ambulance for her dying son.
Donna Hellewell panicked when her son Jay Strand, ten, had an asthma attack at their home in Snaith, near Goole, just before Christmas.
She rushed to his bedroom and began to give him CPR but became frustrated when a 999 operator started repeating instructions and Jay remained unresponsive.
Donna, 46, said: "I went through to his bedroom and his mouth was turning black.
"I tried everything and put a breathing mask on him but nothing was working.
"He pushed it back at me and said to me 'Mum, I'm dying'.
"My mother Carole rang an ambulance but the operator wouldn't listen to us when we asked for someone to be sent immediately.
"I only have one lung so my mother took over CPR."
After ringing an ambulance twice, she says one turned up half an hour later but her son was already dead.
Donna said: "It felt like forever before the ambulance came and the paramedics went upstairs.
"Jay's onesie had slipped down and they carried him out half naked, like a sack of potatoes.
"I was told I shouldn't go in the ambulance with him and it was horrible."
A tearful Donna said the way her son was treated was "disgusting" and she has called Yorkshire Ambulance Service a number of times since his death on December 11.
"I want to take legal action and the service has finally agreed to come to my home to discuss what has happened," she said.
"They could have saved my son's life and it's not acceptable.
"People have said my son was an angel and he was known in the village as the 'smile sharer'.
"Jay was such a lovely young boy and when I watch all of the children leave school, it breaks my heart not seeing my son run with them."
Yorkshire Ambulance Service has agreed to visit Miss Hellewell and say they are looking into her complaint.
A spokesman for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: "First and foremost, we would like to express our deepest sympathy to the family at this sad and difficult time.
"We have been in touch with the family directly and have made arrangements to meet with them to discuss their concerns and answer any questions they have."
