Bradford man died of cardiac arrest after ambulance delay

Paul Dawson was "the kindest person," his daughter said

A man died after waiting 47 minutes for an ambulance after a heart attack.

Paul Dawson, 62, fell ill at his Bradford home in the early hours of 3 April. His wife called 999 four times before paramedics arrived, by which time he was in cardiac arrest.

Their daughter Samantha Dawson said she believed her father could still be alive if the response had been quicker.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) has opened a serious incident investigation into Mr Dawson's death.

NHS England says paramedics should reach patients who are having a heart attack within 18 minutes of an emergency call. For patients in cardiac arrest, the target response time is seven minutes.

Ms Dawson, 30, said it was "excruciating" knowing her father "probably could have been saved" if paramedics had reached him sooner.

She told the BBC: "It's just so painful to just carry on living knowing there's a chance it could have been avoided. There's a chance I could have spoken to him for the last time."

Yorkshire Ambulance Service has opened a serious incident investigation

Mr Dawson's wife Rita, 72, found him collapsed in the hallway of their home with chest pains after hearing him cry out.

She first called 999 at 01:09 BST, according to the ambulance service's records. As her husband's condition deteriorated, she made further calls while attempting to administer CPR, before paramedics reached the them at 01:56 BST.

Mr Dawson, a retired refuse worker, was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary but was pronounced dead at the hospital that morning. His family later learned he had been living with undiagnosed heart disease.

His daughter, who lives in Vancouver, has lodged a formal complaint with YAS over its response.

Ms Dawson said: "I can't change anything for my dad, there's nothing we can do about it. But I think it's just important to stop it happening to anybody else.

"If someone's saying they're having a heart attack, I don't understand why my mum had to call four times."

Ms Dawson believes her mother's initial 999 call should have been logged as a category one call for a patient facing an immediate threat to life. Instead, it was logged as category two - meaning an emergency.

Paul Dawson died at Bradford Royal Infirmary in April

Ms Dawson said her father was "the kindest person" and "a community guy" who had grown up in Bradford and was "proud" of the area.

She said: "He would give his last pound to someone in the street. He would never see you in a bar and not buy you a drink. He went out and picked up litter around the area just because he wanted to keep things tidy.

"He had so many friends, I didn't realise until the funeral how many people knew him and how many people just loved him."

A spokesperson for YAS said: "First and foremost, we would like to express our deepest sympathy to the family of Paul Dawson following his death in April this year.

"We are aware of the concerns raised by Paul's family about the ambulance response, and our patient relations team is liaising directly with them about specific details relating to this."

Earlier this month, a coroner said neglect by YAS had contributed to the death of a Sheffield man who waited 58 minutes for an ambulance after a heart attack.

A 999 call made by Mark Taylor's wife was wrongly logged as category two when it should have been category one, an inquest heard.