• Tuesday, April 16, 2024

News

‘Who will it be tomorrow?’, asks daughter whose father died after three-hour ambulance wait

“He loved pub quizzes and collected facts, no car journey was complete without a quiz from dad,” tweeted Minnie Rahman.

Ambulances are parked outside hospital. (REUTERS/Toby Melville)

By: Pramod Thomas

A 58-year-old Birmingham man died after waiting for three hours for an ambulance on Christmas Eve.

His daughter, Minnie Rahman, took to Twitter to describe the tragedy and said that he died with his presents still unwrapped only ten feet away.

After no beds could be found in the Midlands, she was blue-lighted to hospital on her own.

According to a report in Birmingham Mail, Rahman said that it was ‘unforgivable’ as she could not get the required help for her father.

She blamed the ruling Tories for the state of the NHS and added that it was ‘terrifying’ and ‘unfair’.

“That day it was him, but who will it be tomorrow,” Rahman, a writer and speaker, asked. She added that her ‘absurdly-generous’ father, who was just 58, deserved better.

Her experience shared on Twitter was read more than a million times.

Minnie tweeted: “My dad died on Christmas Eve. He waited for an ambulance for three hours before it was too late. He was only 58. I’ve fought my whole life to stop this kind of thing from happening. I admit defeat. It’s over. We’ve lost. The Tories have what they wanted.”

Without naming her father, Rahman said that her dad only wanted a black Nike tracksuit for the Christmas.

Describing her father as ‘eccentric and generous’, she said: “My dad was eccentric and definitely not perfect. He loved Das Boot, Guns N Roses and Aston Villa. He was a terrible handyman, all our houses are full of things he broke while fixing.

She said: “Ask him for a can of Coke and he would buy you 40. He loved pub quizzes and collected facts, no car journey was complete without a quiz from dad.

“When I was 17 he would pick me and my friends up from nightclubs at 3am to make sure we got home safe. He hated spicy food. He loved ice cream.”

She continued: “He had not one wrinkle on his face but was so proud of his full white beard. He had a nickname for me so random that I am sure I will never hear those words said again.

“He made the best French toast. He thought Snapchat filters were deeply stupid. He didn’t trust Oyster cards. He never took a break from work and wanted to travel when he retired. When I quit my job, he bought me an Apple Pencil engraved with “live life [and two hearts emoji]”.

“When it arrived, he called five times to make sure there were two hearts and not one. I laughed but nothing explains him more.

“Last year I got him a pair of slippers as a gift and he was so chuffed he sent me slipper selfies. This year he wanted a black Nike tracksuit for Christmas. It was lying unwrapped 10 feet away from him when he died.”

“None of these things can describe my dad enough for you to know that he did not deserve to go through what he did, and that it is unforgivable. How terrifying, how unfair. That day it was him, but who will it be tomorrow,” she tweeted.

“I love my dad and I will miss him forever. Please keep him in your duas and your prayers. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.”

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