Last updated at 12:57, Friday, 21 September 2012

A Maryport mum has spoken of the drama of being about to give birth when the ambulance in which she was travelling caught fire.

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Kellie Lamb, 23, of Buttermere Road, was in labour inside an ambulance which caught fire at Northside, Workington, on its way to Whitehaven’s West Cumberland Hospital on Tuesday.

She was switched to a nearby bus to await a replacement ambulance.

She later gave birth in hospital to a boy, Devlin, weighing 7lb 11oz.

Kellie’s nightmare started on Sunday when she experienced labour pains. She went to the West Cumberland Hospital but was sent home on Monday.

On Monday night the contractions began again. She had no transport before 10.30am on Tuesday and was asked to hang on rather than call an ambulance that might be needed for an emergency.

She said: “I waited until about 8.45am but the pain was too much.

“I called an ambulance which was here very quickly. We got to just past Siddick when there was a bang. The driver stopped to check the tyres but could see nothing.

“Then, at Northside, he stopped again and said we had to get out because the ambulance was on fire.

“I was hanging on to the gas and air as I climbed out of the ambulance.

“One of the paramedics was holding onto a sheet that was covering me.”

Naked apart from a blue sheet when she was moved, she said: “It was horrible. I was worried about the sheet coming off but I was also having contractions every two minutes.

“I got out of the ambulance and was having a contraction in the middle of the street when a bus driver came and asked if I would like to sit in his bus.”

She got onto the bus and was then switched to a police car before another ambulance arrived.

She recalled: “I can remember seeing a fire engine putting the fire out but I wasn’t really concentrating – just dealing with the contractions.”

Bus driver Craig Goodall, 59, of Pica, was praised by passengers for the way he helped.

Kellie said she was grateful to the paramedics, one of whom visited her in hospital with a gift bag, and to her mother Michelle who was with her throughout.

Meanwhile, Devlin has settled in at home and met his father Shaun Fearon and sisters Nicole, six, and Lexi-Jo, two.

An ambulance spokeswoman said the fire did not affect the treatment area.

She said: “The crew noticed smoke and stopped the vehicle.”

Mechanics are looking into the cause of the fault.

Firefighters attended and put out the blaze.

l Letter – Page 11

First published at 11:51, Friday, 21 September 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk