Wythenshawe widow wins legal fight over ambulance delay

Steven Latham, pictured with his daughter who was two when he died, collapsed at an air show ten years ago

A widow whose husband died in "absolute agony" while waiting for an ambulance has won a settlement after a nine-year legal battle.

Steven Latham, 43, from Wythenshawe, collapsed on a footbridge at an air show in North Wales.

His wife Emma rang 999 shortly after he fell ill but an ambulance did not arrive until nearly 40 minutes later.

The Welsh Ambulance Service has apologised for the "deeply distressing experience".

Ms Latham said: "My Steven would still be here without ambulance delays and if he had been given proper care.

"I still relive what happened everyday. "

'Shattered life'

Ms Latham was staying at a holiday caravan in Towyn, North Wales with her husband and then two-year-old daughter when tragedy struck ten years ago.

They were enjoying a fly-by at the Rhyl Air Show when Mr Latham fell to the floor short of breath and clutched his chest.

Ms Latham called 999 and within 10 minutes a first responder paramedic arrived and she told him her husband had a history of high blood pressure.

She said he took his pulse and blood pressure and called for back up from an ambulance for a suspected heart attack.

Emma was diagnosed with MS after her husband's death

"I still thought it was just his heart condition," she said.

"He started gasping for breath and was saying over and over again he wasn't feeling right."

She said her husband vomited before his head slumped and he stopped talking.

Ms Latham said: "The paramedic had been just kneeling beside him listening to him beg for help but he didn't do anything.

"I could see his chest wasn't moving and he was no longer gasping for breath and if he was breathing he wasn't breathing normally."

The ambulance crew arrived after he fell unconscious, over half an hour after being called.

Ms Latham - who has since been registered disabled with MS - said: "They didn't try anything to help my Steven.

"As he was being taken down in the chair to the ambulance, he looked like a rag doll as he was so limp."

Emma Latham says she relives what happened to her husband Steven every day

She said she felt he was let down twice, "by the first paramedic who just waited for the ambulance and the ambulance crew when they arrived at the scene".

"The least I would have expected was CPR," she added.

Mr Latham was pronounced dead at the nearby Glan Clwyd hospital.

His wife instructed Carlos Lopez, Head of Clinical Negligence at Express Solicitors in Northenden, to take legal action to find out how her husband died.

Steven Latham suffered a heart attack 10 years ago

After a nine-year legal battle, the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust has made an undisclosed settlement.

Mr Lopez said: "This was never about money. Ms Latham wanted justice for Steven. As well as losing her husband and career she has also since lost her health and is now registered disabled.

"Hopefully this settlement goes some way in helping her to rebuild her shattered life."

Chief Executive of the Welsh Ambulance Service, Jason Killens, said: "Our thoughts remain with the family of Mr Latham, in particular on the 10-year anniversary of his death.

"We know this will be of little consolation to Mr Latham's loved ones and would like to extend a sincere apology for what was a deeply distressing experience for all involved."

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