Elderly grandma with broken neck spends 18 hours in 'war zone' hospital corridor

A woman has recounted the harrowing 18-hour ordeal her elderly mother faced in a hospital corridor, suffering from an undiagnosed broken neck as she waited for help.

Yvonne Jones, 82, was admitted to Wrexham Maelor on Wednesday, June 5, after her daughter, Michele Bradford, discovered she had fallen in her garden the previous day. Michele said: "She'd hit her head and had dragged herself back to the house after recovering consciousness I was very concerned but she's very stoic and she assured me she was alright.

"However her voice sounded different and I couldn't settle - it didn't feel right. So I drove to her house anyway. I found her sat in a chair, stiff as a board."

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Despite being in significant pain, Mrs Jones, from Pantymwyn near Mold, Flintshire, was reportedly given only two Co-codamol tablets in the 11 hours before being sent for scans. A subsequent CT scan revealed that she had broken her neck in two places, along with a third undiagnosed neck fracture from when she was 14.

Michele compared the conditions at Wrexham Maelor Hospital to a "war zone", alleging that patients were left on trolleys and stretchers, some crying out in pain or desperate to use the toilet.

She added: "As mum was lying on her back, forced to stare at the ceiling, she couldn't see any of this. But she could hear all the shouting and wailing."

Betsi Cadwaladr, the North Wales health board, has issued an apology to the patient and her daughter. Deputy medical director Dr Jim McGuigan stated patients are always treated based on clinical need, reports North Wales Live. This can result in long waits if more