Doncaster: Broken leg footballer criticises ambulance wait

An amateur footballer who broke his leg during a match had to be bundled into a van and taken to hospital after an ambulance failed to turn up.

Damian Wieczorek, 28, was injured while playing for Rossington Main FC's development squad on Saturday in Doncaster, with an ambulance called.

After waiting more than two hours, they heard it would be a further two hours so took matters into their own hands.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service said it was looking into the response delay.

Mr Wieczorek said he was tackled during the first 15 minutes of the game against Woodhouse Colts and immediately noticed the way his leg was moving was "not natural".

The striker was told an ambulance had been called, but call handlers warned it could take up to two hours for paramedics to arrive.

Mr Wieczorek recalled how "every breath was really painful" while he was lying on the ground on a windy and rainy afternoon.

"I was really upset, shocked," he told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"I said to my lads and physio, 'please ring them and [ask] if there's any chance they can come quicker.'"

A tent was put up to try and protect Mr Wieczorek from the weather, with the player later loaded into the back of a van and transported to hospital where he underwent surgery.

Mr Wieczorek, who is self-employed, will need another operation in eight weeks.

"It's not acceptable," he said about the delay. The club contacted Doncaster Central MP Dame Rosie Winterton, who asked Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust what had caused the delay.

A spokesperson for the trust said: "We are very sorry to hear about the concerns raised in relation to the delayed ambulance response.

"Our patient relations team has been contacted about this incident and is looking into the specific details relating to it so that we can better understand exactly what happened."

They continued: "Whilst we do our best to respond as quickly as possible to all emergencies, we acknowledge that some patients are having to wait longer for an ambulance response as we prioritise those with a life-threatening condition."

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