Young chef died after an ambulance took TWO HOURS to reach his home as he coughed up blood

Delay: Paul Nelson died after an ambulance took two hours to reach his Norfolk home

A young chef died from a brain haemorrhage after an ambulance took two hours to reach his home.
Paul Nelson, 26, collapsed in his bathroom in the village of Blakeney in Norfolk, after returning from a shift at a local hotel with a headache.
Mr Nelson's parents watched as his condition deteriorated, culminating in him coughing up blood and collapsing on the bathroom floor.
His father Sidney Nelson, 59, and stepmother Haylie Wardhaugh, 45, dialled 999 at 11.15pm but an ambulance did not arrive until after 1am the next day - taking more than six times longer than targets dictate.

By the time he arrived at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, nothing could be done to save Mr Nelson’s life.
Following Mr Nelson's death, health minister Norman Lamb demanded a shake-up of paramedic response targets in rural areas.
Mr Nelson's death comes four months after a coroner branded East of England Ambulance Service crews 'chaotic' after hearing that three-month-old Bella Hellings died when paramedics took more than three times longer than national targets dictate to reach her home in Thetford, Norfolk.
Sidney Nelson, who is disabled and cared for by Miss Wardhaugh, said he was disgusted by the delay that led to his son's death.
He added: 'He was an otherwise healthy young man... He just came home one night and it was obvious there was something seriously wrong.'

 

Mr Nelson went on to say: 'We just wanted to get him to hospital as quickly as we could to get him the treatment he needed.'
Paul Nelson's parents forced their way into the locked bathroom after becoming concerned and found him lying on the floor.

Criticised: Paul Nelson's death comes four months after a coroner branded East of England Ambulance Service crews 'chaotic' following the death of three-month-old Bella Hellings

A paramedic arrived at the house within 15 minutes of the call on November 14.
But the family said the treatment he could offer was limited and the emergency worker contacted the East of England Ambulance Service control room three times to ask for an ambulance to come more quickly.

After arriving at hospital, scans and tests were carried out but he soon stopped breathing.
Mr Nelson said: 'It was obvious his condition was worse than they were letting on... the paramedic himself seemed quite angry and frustrated that it was taking so long.
He added: 'By the time he went out of the door, I would say he was pretty much dead..I don’t know if they could have saved his life but two hours seems like a long time and you can’t help thinking that, had they acted quicker, he would still be alive today.'

Distraught: Paul Nelson's parents forced their way into the locked bathroom after becoming concerned

The ambulance service has not offered the family any explanation for the delay but has told them an investigation has been launched.
Following Mr Nelson's death, North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb said he would urgently raise the issue of ambulance delays in rural areas.
He described Mr Nelson's death as 'all too familiar' as ambulance trusts neglect rural areas in favour of 'easier' urban response times.
Mr Lamb added: ‘I don't have a complete blueprint for the answer but I'm clear there is a massive risk that the current system is distorting clinical priorities and rural patients are suffering as a result’.
Mr Nelson's death comes four months after a coroner branded East of England Ambulance Service crews 'chaotic' following the death three-month-old Bella Hellings.
An inquest heard that one vehicle got lost because 'there were too many blue doors' on Bella’s street in Thetford, Norfolk, while another stopped for petrol while answering a 999 call in March.
In October, an inquest heard that Evelyn Heath, 93, from Attleborough, Norfolk, died from an irregular heartbeat in the back of an ambulance after the vehicle took more than four hours to reach her care home.
A spokesman for the ambulance service refused to comment on an ongoing inquiry into Mr Nelson's death but clinical operations manager Duncan Moore wrote to the family acknowledging that it appeared to have been a 'serious incident'.
The trust has recently appointed a new chief executive after criticism that response times in the East of England were among the worst in the country.
Targets have been put in place for paramedics to reach the most urgent 999 calls within eight minutes and get a vehicle to patients within 19 minutes.
Mr Nelson, who was a keen footballer, worked at the George Hotel in nearby Cley-next-the-Sea.
Since his death his organs have been donated to four different people.
Miss Wardhaugh said: 'He was a lovely bloke and he had so many friends. He would help anybody.'