Mum ‘traumatised’ after 999 advice to give sick son painkillers

Ms Benson said it was a shocking and upsetting ordeal.

“Never in this day, like in this modern age, would I have ever envisioned having to do that.”

She said she understood the pressures on the health service, but never thought, given her son’s medical history, that they would not “deem him an emergency”.

“They could have very well cost him his life.

“They did say the ambulances that they did have, they couldn’t leave the individuals that they were with, and one wouldn’t be available for a few hours.

“That to me is communicating that we don’t deem you an emergency.”

One of Mr Rooney’s sisters, Roisin Wilshaw, who lives in England, told BBC News NI she faced a difficult journey back to Northern Ireland after receiving a phone call from her mother in the middle of the night.

She booked a flight but it was cancelled due to bad weather, causing her stress as she worried about whether she would make it home in time to see her brother if the worst happened.

“I was just numb, when I first realised that my flight was cancelled, my heart just broke.” She got home 12 hours later.