Jody Keenan: Tributes to Newry woman who died after ambulance wait

A prayer ceremony was held in St Paul's Bessbrook on Monday morning

A woman who died on a street in Newry as ambulances took more than 45 minutes to arrive was "the kindest, most beautiful person", her boss has said.

Jody Keenan was a "fantastic classroom assistant" who had worked at St Paul's High School in Bessbrook for 10 years, according to principal Jarlath Burns.

The PSNI has been in contact with the police ombudsman over her death.

PSNI officers were with the 39-year-old on more than one occasion before she died and before an ambulance arrived.

No decision has yet been reached on whether a police ombudsman investigation into the case will follow.

A spokesman for the ombudsman said: "The Police Ombudsman has been notified of this incident by the PSNI and preliminary inquiries are under way.

"The ombudsman cannot comment further at this stage."

Ms Keenan's death is not being treated as suspicious - it is understood that she became seriously ill during a night out in Newry city centre.

She was socialising with friends when she collapsed on Trevor Hill in the early hours of Sunday.

The NIAS said it received a call about Ms Keenan at 03:15 BST on Sunday but no ambulances were immediately available at the time due to a shortage of crews.

Two ambulances were eventually sent to the scene, one from Belfast, County Antrim, and one from Banbridge, County Down.

However, the first crew did not arrive at Trevor Hill until 04:03 BST - 48 minutes after NIAS said it got the first 999 call about the emergency.

By that stage, she had died, despite efforts to resuscitate her, including by Ms Keenan's mother who attempted to give her CPR.

'Tragic incident'

"The Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI) has been advised about this incident and are currently assessing the matter, given police were with Jody shortly before her death," said the PSNI's district commander in Newry, Supt Norman Haslett.

"We are currently assisting OPONI with their assessment and our thoughts remain firmly at this time with Jody's family, friends, colleagues and all those affected by this tragic incident."

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service has apologised to the family and is carrying out its own investigation.

Jarlath Burns said Jody Keenan was a much-loved classroom assistant

Ms Keenan's sudden death has left staff and pupils at the school where she worked "numbed", according to Mr Burns.

"We are in shock and very saddened by her loss," Mr Burns told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

Suspected stroke victim ambulance took more than three hours

A County Down man has said there are big questions to be asked about the health service after waiting over three hours for an ambulance on Saturday night.

Michael Shiels, who lives in Kilkeel, said he found his mother unresponsive at her home and that, when she came round, she was showing signs of a stroke with slurred speech and limited movement.

Mr Shiels told BBC's Evening Extra programme that he was told the ambulance service was "under significant pressure" but that a call would be put out for a crew.

"We were looking for all the signs for a stroke and the signs were there, but we also knew time was critical in a stroke," he added.

When he called the ambulance service again after almost an hour, the operator told Mr Shiels crews were yet to be dispatched as they were "tied up at hospitals".

Mr Shiels told the operator he was worried he would be "ringing an undertaker" if his mother's condition worsened.

"I don't know what's worse than a 76-year-old lying on the floor of a bathroom unable to move and unable to fully speak."

The ambulance arrived three-and-a-half hours after the first initial call was made. Crews told Mr Shiels they had travelled from Strabane, County Tyrone - about 90 miles away.

"In 2022 there's no way that should be allowed to happen to a 76-year-old woman, it shouldn't be allowed to happen anyone," he added.

When contacted about the case, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) said no one was available for interview that that it had nothing to add to the statements it had issued over the past week explaining the current difficulties in the service.

You can listen to the full interview on BBC Evening Extra on BBC Sounds.

A prayer ceremony was held in St Paul's on Monday during which Ms Keenan's former colleagues and students shared their memories of the popular classroom assistant.

"We talked about Jody who was just the kindest most beautiful person you could even meet," Mr Burns said.

"She was loved by staff and pupils and parents alike."

Before taking a job at the high school, Ms Keenan previously worked at Rathore Special School in Newry.

"She was always committed to making a difference to children who had experience barriers to learning," Mr Burns said.

"She went way beyond the call of duty."

He told the programme that Ms Keenan had experienced health complications in recent years.

"She had a tumour removed from her spine last May and she suffered from hydrocephalus which is a build-up of fluid on the brain, which would have meant that she had to wear a shunt and I know she had been having difficulties with that in recent times," he said.

"Even when Jody was in hospital, getting the tumour removed from her spine, she was staying in contact with her pupils."

Ms Keenan's funeral is due to take place in Newry on Wednesday.

In a statement on Monday, the NIAS said it "would like to apologise sincerely and offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the patient".

"We recognise how difficult a time this will be for the family and we will be seeking to engage with them directly in the coming days," its spokesman added.

The NIAS also confirmed on Monday that it will be carrying out a Serious Incident Review into what happened.

A serious adverse incident is defined as any event or circumstance that led or could have led to serious unintended or unexpected harm, loss or damage to patients.

Doctor's 'despair and frustration'

Dr Alexander Davey, a doctor who has worked in ICU and emergency departments across the UK, said something radical needed to be done to prevent such incidents happening again.

He said ambulance waiting times outside hospital emergency departments had reduced operational capacity and there was still a lot of Covid-19 absence in hospitals.

"We're now in a phase of critical burn-out in staff," Dr Davey told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"I've personally been in situations where I've been wanting to transfer patients between hospitals for life and limb-threatening procedures and there have been no ambulance available.

"You're left there with a patient needing your care and there's no resource available to help you get the patient to that care."

Dr Alexander Davey warned that such problems were "becoming more frequent" in Northern Ireland

He added: "I can fully empathise with both families and the teams involved in these incidents as to how frustrating and disempowering and desperate these situations are.

"Sometimes, as in this sad case, there's nothing to be done to respond in time."

Dr Davey, who has 15 years' experience in medicine, said the current crisis in emergency care would have happened long ago, were it not for the "regular heroic efforts of colleagues moving heaven and earth".

"You go through the stages of anger, despair, frustration... these problems are becoming more frequent," he said.

"But for the huge effort of my colleagues across the board coming in on a daily basis, spinning more than as many plates as they could possibly spin every shift and staying longer and doing everything they possibly can.... if it weren't for my colleagues we probably would have passed this crisis years ago.

"We may recognise this current crisis as the critical point as we look back."