I thought I'd lose my foot because of hospital delay

A FOOTBALLER who had to wait more than two hours to be admitted to hospital after his ankle was shattered in a horror tackle has admitted he feared he would lose his foot.

Edinburgh United striker Lee Zavaroni, 22, suffered a dislocated ankle, ruptured ligaments and a fractured shin after the tackle in the Juniors match with Stoneyburn on Saturday.

He had to wait almost 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at Stoneyburn's Beechwood Park, and was then delayed for nearly two hours in getting to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary after the ambulance became stuck on the pitch and then suffered a puncture.

Mr Zavaroni, from Penicuik, is in his first season for the club and had scored two goals in Saturday's match before being injured.

He said: "I can remember looking down and just seeing my ankle hanging off. It was really horrible. I didn't know how much time was passing, but at one point I was beginning to wonder if anyone was going to come.

"Then when they did arrive the problems with the ambulance just made it worse."

The player was treated by the club's medical staff on the pitch, but due to the serious nature of the injury, which Edinburgh United manager Alan Miller said was the worst he had seen in more than 20 years of junior football, the decision was taken not to move him.

The ambulance drove on to the pitch but it became stuck in the muddy turf.

After staff helped get the vehicle moving again, it was discovered it had a flat tyre, so it was decided to go to St John's Hospital to change to another ambulance for the trip to Edinburgh.

Mr Zavaroni said that on arrival at the Livingston hospital he was refused treatment and driven on to Edinburgh.

He said: "When we got to St John's the ambulance staff said they wanted someone there to look at the injury as they couldn't find a pulse in my ankle.

"At that point I was sure I was going to lose my foot, and I couldn't believe it when I was told they couldn't treat me and we had to go to Edinburgh. The ambulance staff were great, but it was very concerning that it took so long to get to hospital."

Following treatment at the ERI he has been told he will be in a cast for eight weeks.

Mr Miller said: "Our main focus is Lee's recovery, and I will say that we will not be relying solely on the NHS as it is clear their services will not be good enough."

Dr Charles Swainson, medical director, NHS Lothian said: "There is absolutely no question that anyone requiring treatment would be refused or turned away at any of our A&E departments. We have also checked our patient records for this period and they confirm that no-one of that name was in the A&E at St Johns."

A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance service said it was not a life-threatening injury and that the nearest available ambulance had been assigned to the case.

He added: "The trip to St John's was necessary because of the tyre problems on the ambulance, and I am not aware of any request for treatment being made there."