More than 40 minutes waiting for an ambulance with a health centre less than 3 minutes away. This was the distressing wait endured by a family with their son after he was knocked down by a car at midday on calle Duquesa de Arcos, by the Acapulco children’s playground.
According to eyewitnesses, the little boy was out for a walk with his father in his pushchair when he jumped out and ran, with no time to react, between the parked cars. Unluckily, as he crossed the street, a hire car driven by a foreign couple had no time to react and ended up hitting the child. By «luck», the vehicle, a white MG, was travelling at very low speed, but it could not avoid hitting the boy.
Those present were briefly overcome by panic when they saw that the child had a nosebleed, and a passer-by immediately called 112 at 14:29. The call was transferred to 061, who said the ambulance would arrive quickly. The boy was conscious, but as a precaution his family did not want to move him until the ambulance arrived. The Local Police arrived at the scene while time passed and the ambulance still had not come.
The boy’s family had to wait more than 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, even though the Sabinillas health centre is less than 3 minutes’ walk from the scene of the accident. According to eyewitnesses, the Manilva ambulance was not available, nor was the one from Estepona, and one finally arrived from San Pedro, 33 kilometres away.
The incident has caused great outrage among Manilva residents, who criticise the delay in medical assistance for the child. «It is unacceptable that a child should have to wait more than 40 minutes for an ambulance in a case like this», said a local resident.
