A dad recovering from a massive heart attack has told how a neighbour rushed him to hospital – after an ambulance failed to arrive.
Michael Heafey, 62, said that had it not been for the quick actions of his wife Grace, 63, and neighbour Joan Ralston, who bundled him into a car, he wouldn’t have survived.
He is now at home in Ardrishaig, Argyll, after a triple heart bypass operation.
He said: "I am usually an early riser in the morning for work.
"I got up that particular morning and I just felt pains in my chest.
"I knew there was something severely wrong.
"I shouted Grace!' I was screaming.
"I was violently sick.
"I do not have much recollection.
"After the second call to the ambulance I have no recollection.
"I was just in complete agony. I knew myself it was a heart attack because of the agony and the fact I have experienced it before, although not as bad.
"I was really scared.
"I had this feeling before. I suffered a heart attack in 2014. I was screaming out in pain.
"I was aware of my wife calling 999. The pain was so severe, I think I lost consciousness for a while."
Grace, 63, phoned 999 (on July 14 just before 6am) twice before giving up and seeking the help of her 70-year-old neighbour Joan Ralston, who was there within five minutes and drove them the three miles to Mid Argyll Community Hospital in Lochgilphead.
Michael said: "How Grace and Joan managed to get me down the outside steps and into that car I have no idea. Grace is small, and I'm pretty tall and hefty.
Joan is a 70-year-old lady.
"I owe so much to these two, and also the staff in the hospital.
"But particularly my neighbour and my wife. Because without them I wouldn't be here today, telling the story.
"Something needs to be done about the lack of ambulances. I didn't realise there was such a shortage until it happened to me."
Grace said: "He had recently suffered a fall at work.
"The doctors had said it was either internal bruising or broken ribs. So that morning at first I wasn't sure if this was to do with the ribs.
"When I first phoned 999 I explained we needed an ambulance. I didn't know if this was anything to do with the fall. That's when they said it would be muscular.
"Two or three minutes later he was screaming and holding his chest - this wasn't muscular."
"I phoned again and said I need an ambulance - like now.
"They asked for my postcode and when I replied they said sorry, there wasn't an ambulance available.
"I asked, can you not hear him howling? I phoned my neighbour Joan and between the two of us we got him down and into the car."
She continued: "When we arrived at hospital I rang the bell.
"An ambulance was sitting outside the hospital. I was told that just because there was an ambulance there, doesn't mean there is a fleet of drivers.
"I had to wait outside in the car. An hour and a half later I went in to find out what was happening and was told he had a massive heart attack and would be going by helicopter to the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank."
The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) issued a public apology to the family when daughter Karen Heafey, 40, spoke out about the incident earlier this month.
A spokeswoman said a full investigation had been launched.
She added that both the ambulance service and the wider health service is experiencing high levels of demand.
In a statement last week, the SAS and NHS explained that the situation is the result of a post-lockdown spike in admissions to A&E wards, which are still operating at reduced capacity due to Covid.
It means that, in many cases, paramedics are being forced to wait hours before being able to take patients through hospital doors.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
