Posted by Chinenye on Tue 08th Sep, 2026 - tori.ng
An 80 year old woman in County Durham was left lying on the pavement for more than four hours after suffering a fall outside her home.
(Woman Left lying in The Street For Over Hours. Photo by The Mirror)
An 80-year-old woman lay on cold concrete for more than four hours waiting for an ambulance after falling outside her home.
Kathleen Bryson tumbled on the pavement in County Durham at around 11:20 am on Tuesday.
Her son found her still there at 3:30 pm, covered in blankets her worried neighbours had brought out to keep her warm.
She'd possibly caught her foot on a pothole.
The family called for an ambulance straightaway but had to wait nearly an hour before ringing back at 12:10 pm when nobody had arrived.
They called again at 2 pm after two hours had passed, thinking that was supposed to be the longest wait.
But the ambulance didn't show up until 3:34 pm over four hours after Kathleen fell.
The ambulance service said it was sorry for the long delay and that they recognise it wasn't the service they wanted to give.
They said their teams work as fast as they can but when demand is high, they have to focus on cases where lives are in immediate danger.
They offered to investigate the incident if the family filed a formal complaint.