A mum has made a desperate plea for more resources for Sheppey after her son was left lying in the road in agony for hours after a motorbike accident.

Andrew Saunders came off the vehicle in Minster Road, Halfway.

The accident happened at about 5.30pm last Friday, but despite suffering severe leg and back injuries, the 22-year-old, who could not be moved, had to wait until 8.40pm to be taken to hospital.

Firefighters were first to arrive but they can administer only first aid.

An ambulance turned up about 45 minutes later but the medics were not senior enough to give the pain-killers Mr Saunders required.

They had to wait for a paramedic but with no sign of one more than three hours later, the decision was made to move him.

His mother, Mandy Burdick, of Bell Farm Lane, Minster, who rushed to be with her son, said: “He was screaming for pain control but they could only give him paracetamol.

"He was screaming for pain control but they could only give him paracetamol... I felt absolutely helpless" - Mandy Burdick

“In the end they had to move him onto a stretcher with him screaming.

"He’d been on that road for three hours with an open wound and a double fracture. I felt absolutely helpless.

“He was shaking through shock, pain and cold. It was a terrible situation.

“What if this had been an old person – they could’ve died.

“We need to get some help for this Island. “

Mrs Burdick was full of praise for the fire crews, medics and neighbours who, as well as providing a blanket and pilllow, helped to turn traffic around in the absence of police to close the road.

“They were brilliant,” she said.

“I’m so grateful to everybody there.”

An ambulance service spokesman said: “We take all concerns raised seriously and we’re sorry for the delays in responding.

“We were extremely busy at the time of the call and a number of ambulances assigned to attend had to be stood down for higher priority calls.

“Certain pain-killing drugs, such as morphine, need to be administered by paramedics.

"We’re sorry that due to the high demand we were facing, paramedic crews were not available to attend.”

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