Haunted by father's final moments

DAUGHTER ON 'TRAUMATIC WAIT' FOR AMBULANCE WHICH ARRIVED TOO LATE

- By SAM VOLPE Health reporter [e-mail]

A GRIEVING daughter says she is “haunted” by thoughts of her father's final moments struggling to breathe and waiting for an ambulance.

That ambulance didn’t arrive until it was too late.

Former British Steel worker Peter Coates, 62, died on March 14, 2019. The Redcar grandfather had a range of ailments including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and was reliant on oxygen, especially from two mains-powered machines.

When a power cut stopped the machines working and he was unable to reach his backup oxygen supply, he called 999. But devastatingly he died in the three quarters of an hour period it took for an ambulance to arrive.

At an inquest held at Teesside Magistrates Court almost seven years on, a medical expert explained how they believed losing access to mains-powered breathing devices had been crucial in leading to Mr Coates’ death, and that “lack of oxygen was key”.

Mr Coates’ daughter Kellie also told the court how his family firmly believed that if an ambulance had arrived in the time he expected, he would have survived. Peter lived just minutes from an ambulance station.

His death came after North East Ambulance Service paramedics were twice delayed in attending his address following the power cut which disrupted his oxygen supply.

The first was when an ambulance was unable to leave the station as electric gates would not open, while the second saw paramedics reportedly “stop for petrol”.