Aaron Morris inquest: Widow directed ambulance as driver didn't know way to hospital

Aaron Morris with his wife Samantha
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


"I have to live with the fact that if I said the RVI he might still be alive to this day."

Those are the words of a young widow who has told an inquest she had to direct an ambulance to hospital while her husband was in cardiac arrest in the back, because the driver didn't know the way.

Samantha Morris was 13 weeks pregnant with twins when her husband Aaron Morris, 31, was involved in a collision on her birthday. She was on her way to meet him following an overnight stay in hospital when she found her husband lying in the road after his motorbike collided with a car at the junction with Newhouse Road and Priestburn Close, in Esh Winning, County Durham.

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Today, Samantha told County Durham and Darlington Coroner's Court that Aaron was conscious and breathing when she arrived at the scene, just moments after the collision on the afternoon of July 1, 2022. However, in the 54 minutes it took ambulance crews to arrive his condition deteriorated.

He died shortly after arriving at the University Hospital of North Durham. Samantha told the inquest: "I was there to hold Aaron's hand as his heart took its last beat."

The inquest heard that several attempts to call for an ambulance were made by a number of people at the scene that day, including Samantha's friend, a nurse practitioner. However, one third party ambulance company, Ambulnz, arrived almost an hour after the first call was made.

Samantha said the driver had asked where the nearest trauma centre was and was on his way to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) when Aaron went into cardiac arrest as the ambulance approached Leadgate roundabout. She then directed the driver to the nearest hospital.

Samantha said: "I was 13 weeks pregnant and my husband was having CPR in the back of the ambulance. Why should I make the decision on what hospital my husband should be taken to? I have to live with the fact that if I said the RVI he might still be alive to this day.

She added: "[The driver] made the right decision to ask. I don't fault him for that. My fault in that is the people who manage and train him should have given him the tools to know where the nearest hospital is. He made the right decision that day by using what he had, which was me who lives in the local area."

Aaron's inquest first opened in May and was later adjourned after the coroner identified the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) as a party of interest.

Two officers from Durham Constabulary who attended the collision site were the first to give evidence today, including DC Rebecca Shaw, who told the hearing that she was the first officer on scene. She was off-duty at the time driving and in the area when she was diverted around the collision by members of the public.

DC Shaw told the inquest that she stopped her car after seeing a body lying in the road, which was surrounded by a number of people. Several 999 calls were then made from her mobile, which was then passed to off-duty nurse Helen.

The inquest continues.