Dad borrows oxygen cylinder and drives daughter to hospital after four hour ambulance wait

A father says he was so desperate to get oxygen to his sick daughter that he borrowed a cylinder from a GP and took his daughter to hospital himself, after waiting almost four hours for an ambulance.

Cara Saunders, aged 20, who has cystic fibrosis and only one working lung, developed breathing difficulties at home in Ebbw Vale.

As Cara was prone to serious infections and needed specialist care she needed to go to Llandough Hospital in Penarth.

Her dad Neil Saunders was told the wait was two hours. Eventually he was asked if he was was prepared to take a chance and take Cara himself.

“I felt I had no choice. Cara was getting distressed.”

Mr Saunders says the delays were “unacceptable”, and the whole evening was a “nightmare.”

“It’s been very stressful. The out-of-hours service told me Cara should have been a high priority,” he said.

“I felt we couldn’t wait, but I dread to think what might have happened. She’s having panic attacks about it.”

Valleys Correspondent Hannah Thomas reports from Ebbw Vale: