Health: Mum told by 999 to give seriously ill son painkillers over ambulance delay

On Sunday morning Ms Benson heard “an almighty scream” coming from her son’s attic room.

After seeing “the panic setting over his face”, she phoned for an ambulance.

Ms Benson said she explained her son’s medical history and told the call handler he was hyperventilating, in agony and could not move.

After confirming he was breathing, lucid and could talk, she was told it would be a couple of hours before an ambulance could get to him due to ongoing pressures on the health service.

When Ms Benson responded that she needed an ambulance now, the call handler asked if she could take her son to hospital herself.

She said she could not because she had a two-door car, which would be extremely difficult for Mr Rooney to travel in given his level of pain, and her son’s father could not drive at night because of his own health issues.