'My Steven would still be here without ambulance delays - I still see him gasping for breath and begging for help as he slowly died'

The widow of a man who “diedin agony” waiting for an ambulance has won a settlement after a nine-year legal battle - and says it proves 999 crews were in the wrong.

Emma Latham’s husband, Steven, was 43 when he collapsed on a footbridge as they watched an airshow in Wales featuring vintage planes in 2013 with daughter, Teegan, then two. Emma, from Wythenshawe, rang 999 but says it took 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

A first responder paramedic had arrived within 10 minutes but she claims they watched as Steven struggled to breathe. When ambulance paramedics found him unconscious on the ground they also failed to perform CPR at the scene, she says, and he later died in hospital.

Emma, 46, took legal action against the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, who have now made an undisclosed payout.

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Emma, who has since developed MS, said: “My Steven would still be here without ambulance delays and if he had been given proper care. I still see my husband gasping for breath and begging for help, with the paramedic kneeling beside him watching him slowly die.

"Overnight I lost my husband, business, work and health."

Emma alleged that the ambulance trust 'couldn’t care less' but claims 'the fact they have paid out shows they know they were in the wrong.'

The family were staying at a holiday caravan in Towyn, North Wales, close to where Steven and Emma had opened a cafe. They were watching vintage planes fly by in Rhyl air show when Steven, who had high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation, collapsed. The ambulance trust later claimed Steven had been shocked with a defibrillator en route to the hospital, which Emma disputed, and