A teen who was thrown to the ground and trampled on by a horse waited two hours for an ambulance in agony in the freezing cold.
However rider Katie Layton, 17, was told an ambulance crew would take four hours to arrive as “it was not an emergency”.
Katie was out riding with her sister Amy, 16, when her horse was spooked by a charging cow in a nearby field.
The startled horse rose up on all fours and threw the terrified teen against a tree then trampled on her back and arm before bolting away.
Stricken Katie had dialed 999 for an ambulance while lying in the mud but was told it would take four hours as “it was not an emergency”.
Panic-stricken mum Sharon Layton, 55, was guided to the scene of the accident on a deserted county lane near Chesterfield, Derbs., by her daughter Amy over the phone.
When she arrived she found her A-Level student Katie covered in coats as onlookers tried to comfort her on January 7.
Sharon said: “It was just shock and panic – seeing my daughter laying there screaming.
“The whole thing was mind-blowing – it’s panic like I’ve never experienced in my whole life.
“She was just crying her eyes out and wailing at me to help her – she just broke down.
“So I reassured her that an ambulance was coming but I took one look at her arm and thought ‘that’s broken’.
While Sharon tied to help her daughter others stood nearby tried to call for an ambulance.
One of the passers-by trying to help turned out to be an eye, nose and throat consultant.
Sharon said: “He had also phoned for an ambulance and been told she was at the top of the list but she’d been lying there for two hours by this point.
“But she started going into shock and was absolutely frozen and was slipping in and out of consciousness so I started screaming at this consultant.
“So he got back on the phone then said an air ambulance was on its way – that’s when I got really scared.
“When they were lifting her onto the stretcher I’ve never heard screams like it in my life – it was horrific.”
Katie was airlifted to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, South Yorks., and a full body CT scan showed their were no broken bones or spinal injuries.
She was discharged from hospital the same day.
However Sharon says she is “disgusted” that what could have been a very serious accident was not seen as an emergency by East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS).
She said: “I am horrified and disgusted by it – I’m raging.
“The fact that they disregarded it as an emergency is unbelievable.”
Katie has been left with ligament damage and will need a course of physiotherapy but mum Sharon said it would be a while before she would let her daughter ride again.
Sharon said: “So many people stopped to help Katie that day.
“They put their coats on her to keep her warm and comforted her as she drifted in and out of consciousness.
“So many 999 calls were made.
“I’d like to publicly thank everyone who helped – especially the amazing consultant.”
Andy Magee, paramedic and ambulance operations manager for Derbyshire at EMAS, said: “It is always our aim to provide our patients with the highest possible standard of care.
“We are sorry that we were unable to get help to the patient sooner and for the distress this caused the patient and family.
“Our patient advice and liaison service is currently speaking with the patient and her family to investigate what happened and to discuss their experience.”
Following the incident the family has set up a crowdfunding page to help raise £500 for Derbyshire Air Ambulance.
To donate visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/blueskieshouse?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Yimbyprojectpage&utm_content=blueskieshouse&utm_campaign=projectpage-share-owner&utm_term=zK43vDR5M
