'My leg was broken by bike robbers but I had to call Uber to get to hospital'

 
Victim: Paul Mullan in hospital with girlfriend Yuriko Taya Picture: Nigel Howard
Nigel Howard

A cyclist whose leg was broken in a “bike-jacking” by three masked robbers was refused an ambulance and had to get to hospital by Uber minicab.

Paul Mullan, 32, dialled 999 in agony as he lay on the towpath beside the River Lea near Tottenham Hale after being attacked as he rode home.

But, in the latest controversy to hit the London Ambulance Service, he was told to hang up and redial the NHS 111 non-emergency helpline because his injury “wasn’t serious enough”.

He was eventually rescued by three police officers who carried him to their car and drove him home before he called an Uber cab to take him to A&E.

The IT project manager, of Walthamstow, told the Standard in an exclusive interview from his hospital bed he felt “let down” by the ambulance service.

An X-ray of Paul's broken leg
PAUL MULLAN

The attack came a day after no ambulance was sent to pregnant Malorie Bantala, 21 — so brutally attacked in Peckham that she lost her baby.

Mr Mullan, who is awaiting surgery on a fractured shinbone, said: “I don’t know why they couldn’t send me an ambulance or doctor.

"That is the most disappointing thing. At the time I was incredulous. I’m always a defender of the NHS but I want to know why they didn’t listen to my call properly.

“They said, ‘Describe what is wrong with you’. I’m lying flat on my face. I’ve been hauled off my bike. I can’t move. I knew my leg was gone.”

The 9pm bike-jacking on Tuesday— the latest in a series around Walthamstow marshes — is believed to have been filmed on a passer-by’s camera.

Police today appealed for witnesses as they issued descriptions of the attackers, all black. One is tall, aged 18-20 and wore a burgundy bandana over his face, another of that age had Afro-style hair and wore a black jacket and a short youth aged about 16 had a Somali appearance and wore a black bomber jacket and blue jeans.

The ambulance service faced criticism last year after several cyclists lay injured for hours. Emergency response times fell to the slowest in Britain and chief executive Ann Radmore quit in January after concerns were raised at Prime Minister’s Questions.

London Ambulance Service said: “From the information given us, the patient was conscious and alert and had no immediately life-threatening injuries. We will work with him to review this case and are sorry if we have contributed to an already very distressing experience.”

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