Susan Harding, 57, suffered a haemorrhagic stroke at her home last December, resulting in the loss of function on the left side of her body due to a brain bleed.

Her partner, Rob Christensen, 63, claims that her condition deteriorated during the one hour and 59 minutes it took for the ambulance to reach their home after the initial 999 call was made. The standard response time for category 2 emergencies is stated as being within 30 minutes, a significant increase from the previous target of 18 minutes.

Rob alleges that each time he called for an update, he was asked to repeat all the details from the start, exacerbating the delay. He believes that the prolonged wait resulted in additional bleeding and pressure on Susan's brain, which could have been prevented.

After Susan, a mother of two, was initially placed in an induced coma, doctors informed Rob that she would likely never regain the use of the left side of her body and would require care for the rest of her life. Rob is now advocating for real-time reporting of ambulance response times, a revamp of call-handling and triage systems to prevent repeated delays, and a transparent, time-bound plan for improvements that the public can monitor.

Rob, a retired project liaison consultant from Melksham, Wiltshire, complained: "If the ambulance had been sitting outside our house with the engine running, she still would have had that stroke, but all that extra bleeding and pressure on her brain, a lot of that wouldn't have happened and she's now going to be permanently disabled for the rest of her life.

"We're supposed to act fast, and we got nothing from the emergency services. For the first time, I felt helpless, really helpless.

"It's like a bereavement because she's not all there.

"It's horrible, and it makes me angry - it's changed our lives."

Susan had suffered the catastrophic stroke on December 12, 2024, at their home and remains in medical care ever since.

Describing the events leading up to the tragedy, Rob recounted: "We had a normal day doing some Christmas shopping and when we got home Susan had asked me to go into the garage to sort some Christmas decorations.

"Susan was amusing herself, happily sorting through stuff and I was re-soldering battery connections for the wreath.

"She had gone to the toilet, but five minutes later, she still hadn't come out, and then I heard a thump against the bathroom door.

"I found Susan collapsed on the floor."

Rob, taking immediate notice of her drooped face and slurred speech, desperately called for an ambulance, unaware he would endure a nearly two-hour wait for help.

He said: "At 16:59, I called it in, and they asked lots of questions - I told them she was having a stroke."

The worried husband recalled: "I also called her eldest son, and he made his way over.

"When he arrived, I phoned the ambulance to chase up - about 50 minutes after the initial call and we had to go through all the same questions again - I couldn't believe the ineptitude.

"We're pacing around, wondering what to do. Do we take her ourselves or wait?".

"By 18:30, it still hadn't turned up, so I called up again, and they went through the questions again. I was gobsmacked at the indifference.

"At 18:50, an emergency responder in a car turned up, and then the ambulance finally turned up almost two hours later at 18:58.

"It was 19:20 before she was finally taken to hospital - by then, the damage was done."

Susan was rushed 14.5 miles to the RUH in Bath, with Rob claiming that South Western Ambulance Service have given no other reason for the delay other than being busy.

Medics were forced to put Susan into an induced coma to transfer her to Southmead Hospital in Bristol - where she remained in an induced coma for nearly four weeks.

She underwent emergency surgery at Southmead to relieve the bleeding on her brain.

On January 21, 2025, Susan was moved back to the RUH and eventually moved to a local hospital in Chippenham for rehab physio in March.

Rob said: "It can take up to 24 months to rehab, but she will need constant physio, and once she's sent home, they can't guarantee what treatment she'll get, if any.

"It's horrible, and it makes me angry - it feels like our lives have come to an end."

An exasperated son has shared his family's ordeal as he became the full-time carer for his mother, whose sudden memory loss meant she was unable to recall events from just 15 minutes ago.

Rob recounted: "I'm going to be caring for someone that basically isn't there - she can't remember things that happened 15 minutes ago.

"It's affected her reading and depth of field, and she can't stand on her own."

Alongside these challenges, her anxiety peaks when left alone, with Rob noting: "When I'm not there, she gets anxious."

Determined for clarity and assistance, Rob reached out to his local MP and ultimately received a response from the Minister of Health. His frustration over the situation was evident as he questioned the efficacy of urgent care protocols: "Either it's important to act FAST, or it's not. If it is, why the hell didn't the ambulance didn't turn up within 18 minutes?

"We've all seen the act FAST campaigns on TV - I did act fast and it's such a disappointment when it doesn't happen in reality."

He bluntly added: "It's a lie. This is 6.5x times the amount of time we should have waited.

"You expect better - we've been gravely let down, and you expect some tangible response and not something talking about statistics."

Apologies came from a spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT), who admitted to the distressing inadequacy: "We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Ms Harding for the delay in our response. The delay was unacceptable and falls below the high standards of care we aim to provide."

The spokesperson also added that the ambulance service treats such delays with gravity: "Delays in our care is not something we want any of our patients to experience, and when a delay does occur, it's taken very seriously.

"At the time of Ms Harding becoming unwell in December 2024, our service was under extreme pressure, and our response time was impacted by this. This demand was further compounded by hospital handover delays and system pressures within the wider NHS and social care.

"We continue to work incredibly hard with our partners in the NHS and social care, to do all we can to improve the service that patients receive."

You can support Rob's petition here: www.change.org/p/two-hours-is-too-long-demand-action-for-ambulance-delays