The first call at 11 p.m., the last at 4:30 p.m. the next day: he called the emergency services 5 times, an ambulance was sent too late, he died at home of a cardiac arrest

Hayley Hicks, his wife, called 999 for the first time around 10:55 p.m. January 8 and his fifth and final call was made at 4:23 p.m. the next daywhen she told the operator that he was in terrible pain.

An ambulance arrived at their home at 4:30 p.m., but too late surely since Mr Devos died shortly afterwards.

His death was “avoidable”

During a hearing held this Monday, December 2, the coroner (responsible for investigating the causes and circumstances of a death in Anglo-Saxon countries) stated that Mr. Devos was a man “tvery fit and active” Who “never had a problem” avant to feel sudden and sharp pain in the stomach on the evening of January 8, 2021.

The coroner further stated that Charles died of small bowel infarction, a treatable disease, and blamed his death on the extreme pressure the ambulance service was under at the time, adding that there had been missed life-saving opportunities of the fifty-year-old and therefore that his death was “avoidable“. “There was a systemic failure within the health and social care system which was the cause of Charles’ death.”

That day alone, paramedics were stuck outside the emergency department of the Royal Cornwall Hospital and were unable to transport their patients to the hospital due to a lack of beds available.