Pregnant wife 'forced to direct ambulance driver to hospital' as husband lay dying in back

A woman who was pregnant with twins was forced to direct ambulance staff to the nearest hospital, an inquest has heard. Samantha Morris had found her husband, Aaron Morris, in the street after a road traffic collision.

The 31-year-old was conscious at first but was left waiting for an ambulance for almost an hour after his motorbike collided with a car at the junction with Newhouse Road and Priestburn Close, in Esh Winning, County Durham.

The delay in emergency response from Ambulanz, a third-party ambulance service, saw his condition rapidly deteriorate, a coroner's court heard. It took 54 minutes for the ambulance to arrive after multiple calls were made by bystanders, including one by a friend of Samantha who was a nurse practitioner, ChronicleLive reports.

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Devastatingly, Aaron died shortly upon reaching the University Hospital of North Durham on July 1, 2022.. Samantha recounted to the Darlington Coroner's Court: "I was there to hold Aaron's hand as his heart took its last beat."

The mum revealed the ambulance driver had enquired about the nearest trauma centre and was heading towards Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) when Aaron suffered a cardiac arrest near Leadgate roundabout. She then guided the driver to the closest 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. [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."

Samantha has since welcomed twin boys, Aaron-Junior John Robson Morris and Ambrose-Ayren Morris. Aaron's inquest began in May and was subsequently postponed after the coroner named the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) as an interested party.

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

DC Shaw revealed at the inquest that she halted her vehicle upon spotting a body in the road, encircled by several individuals. She then made multiple emergency calls from her mobile phone, which was subsequently handed over to an off-duty nurse named Helen.

The inquest continues.