A DISABLED great-grandmother from Bexleyheath almost died after a 999 operator initially refused to send out an ambulance, it has been claimed.

Cancer survivor Heather Graham, of Erith Road, was screaming in agony after suffering a blood clot on her leg which caused the wound on her leg to swell to the size of a melon.

The 68-year-old’s daughter Karen Elliott says she pleaded with 999 control centre staff to send out an ambulance and explained the widower had a long history of severe health problems.

She told News Shopper: "I explained the situation fully but they said it wasn't an emergency and put me on to a recorded message saying a clinical assessor would ring me back.

"By this time my mother was screaming in agony so I rang 999 again, they could hear her, but they still refused to send an ambulance immediately, even though my mother was deteriorating and said it would be over 40 minutes.

"‘I said I’m going to lose my mum at this rate’."

Frail Mrs Graham suffered the injury after catching her leg on the sun lounger in her back garden on the afternoon of July 14.

The retired Greenwich Council social worker immediately called her daughter who lives five minutes drive away in West Street, Erith.

Mother-of-two Mrs Elliott dialed 999 at 2.30pm and offered to run to a nearby ambulance station for help and considered driving her to the hospital herself.

The ambulance arrived in 26 minutes, by this time the pensioner’s condition had quickly deteriorated.

She was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital and on arrival Mrs Elliott says she was warned to expect the worst.

She said: "The wound started off the size of an egg, then a melon and by the time we got to hospital it was from her ankle all the way up to her knee and her foot was turning black.

"We were told she may lose her leg or may not make it through surgery, given she has a bad heart and a history of blood clots."

The housing officer has filed an official complaint and threatening legal action against London Ambulance Service.

Mrs Elliott, 50, said: "She’s had five blood clots, a heart bypass, breathing problems, lost central vision in her left eye, had cancer of the kidney - she’s a remarkable woman and a I did not want to lose her.

"That’s my anger. If it was someone who was fit and healthy, fair enough, we would wait.

“But all these things that have happened, I was so worried.

"My mother’s so annoyed. She said to me ‘I’ve paid my taxes all my life but can’t even get an ambulance’."

She has lost all the fat and tissue on her left leg and could be in hospital for about six weeks while she waits to be transferred to St Thomas’ in central London for reconstructive surgery.

Mrs Elliott added: "The two lady paramedics that attended they were superb and the staff at Queen Elizabeth Hospital have been absolutely amazing but my main grievance is they wouldn’t send an ambulance to start off with because they said it wasn’t life threatening and I knew it was.”

A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman released a statement but declined to comment on the allegations until the complaint has been investigated.

She said: "According to our records we were first called at 2.30pm on Sunday 14 July to reports of a patient with a leg injury at Erith Road, Bexleyheath.

“We sent one ambulance crew who arrived at the scene at 2.56pm.

“We can confirm our patient experiences department have received a complaint from the patient’s family and will be responding as soon as they can.”