'I wished the Lord would take me away': 92-year-old man waited 14 hours for ambulance after fall

Cyril Pepper, who has previously suffered a stroke, told ITV News Correspondent Lucy Watson he would've "just faded away" if his carers hadn't stayed with him

A 92-year-old diabetic man who waited 14 hours for an ambulance said he hoped he could "just go away" as he lay helplessly in pain on the floor.

Cyril Pepper, who can barely walk, suffered a fall in November at his home in Silverdale, Lancaster, and called for help.

He said his carer Debbie Ausin arrived within five to 10 minutes to find him on the floor and an ambulance was called - but it would take until 4am the following morning to get to him.

West Midlands Ambulance Service has since apologised to Cyril and said it was struggling with "high levels of demand from people with life-threatening conditions".

Cyril, who has previously suffered a stroke, said he felt "terrible" lying in pain on his back for the entire time - but is "forever" grateful his carers who stayed with him.

He told ITV News: “What was going through my mind? I was praying the good Lord would take me away... I was in pain and uncomfortable.”

Cyril's carer took a photo while they waited hours for the ambulance Credit: Supplied

“With having the stroke, my leg was jammed against the cupboard and I couldn’t move… The district nurse lifted me back up and got these cushions around me to try and make me comfortable, which they did," he added.

“At 92 when you fall, it’s most unpleasant.”

Cyril shared his story as the average response time in England in November 2021 for life-threatening ambulance calls took nine minutes and 10 seconds - the target is seven minutes. 

In A&E that same month, the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted, rose to 10,646 - a record high.

A total of 6.98 million people were waiting for routine surgery - the greatest number since records began. 

"I was praying the good Lord would take me away"

Cyril said he’s always been treated well by the health service in general and has "every respect for them".

“But when it takes an ambulance 14 hours to get to you, you have different views… Is anything going to happen to me? Is anybody coming? How much longer will I have to suffer this?” he added.

“Various things go through your mind. First of all, you think they’re not bothered. It’s as simple as that," added Cyril.

“Similar things that went through my mind was the gratitude for the three ladies that were looking after me.”

When asked what he would’ve done if they hadn’t have been there, he responded: “Faded away. Just faded away.”

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Cyril said he hopes by sharing his story that it "might help someone else" and that if someone else falls ill and are waiting for an ambulance, they "get better service".

NHS England said last month staff answered the highest number of 999 calls for any November on record, with an average of around one every three seconds.

Demand for NHS 111 services also remained high, with almost 1.4 million calls answered during November.

Last month was also the second busiest November on record for A&E, with more than two million patients seen at emergency departments and urgent treatment centres.

Hospitals could be put under pressure by the new variant. Credit: PA Images

A closer look at NHS delays through the winter months:

  • One in 10 patients arriving by ambulance at hospitals in England last week waited more than an hour to be handed over to A&E departments, NHS England said.

  • Some 8,211 delays of more than 60 minutes were recorded across all acute trusts in the seven days to December 5. This was 10% of the 83,903 arrivals by ambulance.

  • A handover delay does not always mean a patient has waited in the ambulance. They may have been moved into an A&E department, but staff were not available to complete the handover.

  • The number of people enduring “trolley waits” of more than 12 hours in A&E departments has reached a record high.

  • In November, some 10,646 people waited more than 12 hours in England’s hospitals from a decision to admit them to actually being admitted for treatment.

  • The figure is up from 7,059 in October and is the highest for any calendar month since records began in August 2010.

In response to Cyril's story, a spokesperson for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "The Trust would like to offer its apologies to Mr Pepper for the delay in responding.

“Paramedics in our control room spoke to the caller with the patient on several occasions to check whether his condition had changed, but unfortunately, high levels of demand from people with life-threatening conditions sometimes mean we are not able to respond to incidents as quickly as our patients would want.

"We are working closely with all local health services and NHS England to reduce delays and we continue to bolster frontline and control room staffing as part of a range of measures to help manage the current high levels of demand."