A devastated mother, who has lost three children and her husband in the last six years, has hit out after her daughter died in her arms during an hour-long wait for an ambulance.
Lisa Aitcheson, 53, died while her mother, Denise, 75, gave her CPR after she suffered a heart attack in her flat in Canterbury, Kent on November 2 last year.
Despite Denise ‘begging for help’, it took the paramedics more than an hour get to the scene, at which point Lisa had died in her mother’s arms.
It is the latest in a long line of tragedies to hit Denise, who has lost her husband and three children in just six years.
Ambulance service bosses have apologised for taking too long, but heartbroken Denise says she wants ‘justice’ for Lisa.
Lisa Aitcheson, 53, died while her mother, Denise, 75, (pictured) gave her CPR after she suffered a heart attack in her flat in Canterbury, Kent on November 2 last year
Tributes to Denise’s deceased family members at her home in Canterbury, Kent
Denise’s tribute to her daughter, who died in her arms while she waited for an ambulance
She said: ‘I held Lisa in my arms as she died while asking me where the ambulance was and telling me she loved me.
‘I’ve got to live with that for the rest of my life.’
Denise, a retired housekeeper, had gone over to Lisa’s flat after she called her saying she did not feel well.
She was suffering from sickness and ‘just didn’t look well at all’, Denise recalled.
When Lisa started having chest pains, Denise called NHS 111.
It was explained that Lisa had recently undergone heart surgery to insert stents and suffered with the autoimmune disease lupus.
The call, which was made at 6:30am on November 2, was initially triaged as a Category 2 ambulance response – meaning paramedics aim to get to the scene within 18 minutes.
But as time went on, no ambulance arrived.
Denise said: ‘I had to give my daughter CPR. She begged me to help her, but I couldn’t do anything.
‘There was only so much I could do for her.’
The anxious pensioner kept calling for help but it was not until more than an hour later, at 7.40am, that the call was upgraded to Category 1, requiring an immediate response.
Paramedics then arrived within five minutes, but it was too late to save Lisa.
Denise said: ‘It took the ambulance over an hour to come. She had already died, and they didn’t even apologise.
‘I know she was a very sick girl, but my daughter didn’t have to die the way she did. It makes me so angry and upset.’
Lisa suffered from a blood disorder, anorexia, heart issues, arthritis, and partial deafness linked to a lupus flare-up 12 years ago.
She was a lifelong Arsenal fan and at her funeral the coffin was covered in red and white ‘just like she would have wanted’.
Denise Aitcheson’s tribute to her daughter Louise Jackson who she lost in 2017
Denise Aitcheson lost her daughter Laura in 2022, aged 48
Denise said: ‘I can’t get my head around it. 53 is no age at all.
‘I still expect Lisa to be on the end of the phone like she was three or four times a day before.
‘She always made time for me. She was so kind and good-natured. I was and am so proud of who she was.’
Heartbreakingly, Lisa’s death marks the fourth time in six years Denise has lost a loved one.
She was widowed in May 2017 when her husband of 47 years, John, died just 22 days after being diagnosed with lung and brain cancer.
Within three months, she was mourning the death of her daughter Louise, 45, who had suffered from sepsis and diabetes, which had left her partially paralysed and blind.
Five years on, Denise was once again devastated following the loss of her youngest daughter Laura.
The 48-year-old mother-of-one had been taken into intensive care due to a complication with Crohn’s disease, as well as blood clots in the lungs and Covid.
‘I don’t think many people will know what it’s like to lose all of your kids – I haven’t had it easy,’ said Denise.
‘I still go and talk to them at the cemetery.
‘They’re all together but I just never thought it’d be me still here without them.
‘People are disgusted by the way I’ve been treated, and I just haven’t got any answers to give them as to why Lisa isn’t with us anymore.
‘I’m not in the best of health and all this stress isn’t helping me.
‘I do wonder, ‘what is the point?’ It’s just so hard and I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.
‘But Lisa needs justice, I need answers, and the ambulance service needs to be named and shamed.’
Denise says she has attempted to get in touch with South East Coast Ambulance Service on multiple occasions to find out why paramedics were so late – but has been met with a wall of silence.
She and her three adult grandchildren, Liam, Ryan and Courtney, are calling for compensation which would go towards covering funeral costs and providing savings for the future.
Denise Aitcheson holding pictures of her three daughters, Lisa, Laura, and Louise
She said: ‘I want people to know how much I’ve had to go through. I’ve had to fight so hard yet nobody from the ambulance service returns my calls.
‘If it’s happened to my daughter, how many other people has this happened to? They didn’t help Lisa at the end of the day.
‘I want justice for Lisa – I can’t move on until I’ve got answers.’
NHS figures reveal that South East Coast Ambulance Service’s average response time for Category 2 calls in November was 30 minutes.
This is 12 minutes longer than the target.
In December, the average response time for these incidents increased to 32 minutes.
The national average is 45 minutes.
A spokesperson said: ‘We take all concerns raised seriously and our thoughts are with Mrs Aitcheson at this difficult time.
‘We are sorry we took longer than we should to respond to her daughter and appreciate how distressing this must have been.
‘Mrs Aitcheson’s call was originally triaged as a Category 2 call.
‘At approximately 7.40am it was upgraded as requiring a Category 1 response when her daughter’s condition worsened.
‘Following the upgrade, ambulance crews arrived at the location in approximately five minutes and made efforts to establish the exact location of Mrs Aitcheson’s flat.
‘We are sorry Mrs Aitcheson is unhappy with our response to her complaint. We have looked into her concerns and will be responding to her directly in full in the coming days.’