"It's too late": Sister of mother who died waiting for ambulance speaks out
<p><em>A Current Affair </em>host Ally Langdon teared up during an interview with the heartbroken sister of Cath Groom, the Brisbane mum who <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/caring/mother-dies-after-ambulance-fails-to-arrive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">died after waiting for an ambulance</a> that never arrived. </p>
<p>Groom had initially complained of severe chest pain in the hours before she was found dead by her son, Nicholas, on the morning of her 52nd birthday.</p>
<p>Groom's sister, Bec McQuilty said that her family will never get over the tragedy, as she details exactly what happened that night. </p>
<p>McQuilty said her sister had not only complained of severe chest pains, but was also vomiting profusely and had pain between the shoulder blades. </p>
<p>She said Nicholas, Grooms's only son, called triple zero "multiple times" to request an ambulance, but after 90 minutes of no help, Groom decided to go to sleep. </p>
<p>She got up at some point in the night, collapsed and died. </p>
<p>"For a young boy to have to see his mum like that, it just shouldn't happen," McQuilty said.</p>
<p>"He was petrified he didn't know what to do.</p>
<p>"He's been taught through all his life that you can rely on these people and to make a phone call to triple zero and them not be there for him when they should have been, is just blatant neglect.</p>
<p>"I will never forget the look on his face of just absolute despair."</p>
<p>The <em style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">A Current Affair </em>broke down the moment McQuilty recalled Nicholas calling her in a panic after finding his dead mum. </p>
<p>"I just think this hits all of us, hearing this," Langdon said. </p>
<p>"That scene no doubt will haunt you for a long time."</p>
<p>McQuilty shared that prior to Groom's passing the family was experiencing "the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in the space of 24 hours," after celebrating Nicholas' high school graduation on the Friday. </p>
<p>"To get to such an incredible point of his high school graduation and just to be so proud of him on that day," McQuilty said. </p>
<p>"I could see it in her face that she was just, you know, so so proud.</p>
<p>"And literally 24 hours later he's finding his mother deceased, unnecessarily. </p>
<p>"He's numb, he's angry and he's got a really long road ahead of him."</p>
<p>Nicholas has now lost both parents, as his dad passed away when he was a baby. </p>
<p>McQuilty revealed that her mum was admitted to the ER after finding out the devastating news and "never come back from this". </p>
<p>"She herself was taken to the ER from just complete shock and her own heart," McQuilty said.</p>
<p>"So I have my sister deceased in the house. I have my mom in the ER.</p>
<p>"You know, it's just, no family, Ally, should ever ever have to go through what our family has gone through."</p>
<p>McQuilty hopes that there will be changes made to emergency health system in the wake of her sister's death.</p>
<p>"Put some more money into our hospital system and our health system maybe.</p>
<p>"It's too late for my family, it's too late. But maybe that can save somebody else."</p>
<p><em>Images: Nine/ A Current Affair</em></p>
