Illinois Woman Dies after 22-Minute Ambulance Wait

The daughter of a Dixmoor woman who died in early August said she wanted to know why a Dixmoor ambulance took so long to reach her mother.

Netty Graham said her mother, Patricia Jackson, was suffering from a pulmonary embolism, which is a condition in which an artery in a lung becomes blocked. Graham said she has sent a letters to both the village's mayor and fire chief looking for answers as to why it took 22 minutes for paramedics to arrive at her mother's home, which was two miles away from the fire department. Jackson's home is also five minutes away from the nearest hospital.

"I just thought she would be around another 28 years, and I think the day before she died, I told her, 'Sixty-five is the new young. You're going to be around here 28 more years,'" Graham said.

Jackson, who was 66 years old, died before a doctor could see her, NBC5's Anita Padilla reported. Jackson had survived colon cancer and completed chemotherapy.

"To me, there's no excuse," Graham said. "I can't ... I don't know. What were they doing?"

Padilla reported that NBC5 tried several times to reach the mayor and village attorney but did not receive any return phone calls from either.

Graham said, so far, she has not received a response from Dixmoor officials.

"What I think about is that she was sitting there trying to breathe saying, 'Hurry!'," Graham said. "She was in the right mind to know that they were not coming."

Jackson lived in at the Colonial Mobile Home Park in Dixmoor, which is fenced in by train tracks to the north and south on Western Avenue, Padilla reported. Residents said it is not uncommon for people to wait for the police or fire department, especially when the trains sit for long periods of time.

"We required 911, and Dixmoor showed up," said Darrin Jarvis, who also lives in the Colonial Mobile Home Park, but did not know Jackson. "Their response time was 20 minutes and two phone calls to 911."

Another woman, Arlene Vera, who lives in the mobile home park, said Jackson's death frightens her greatly. Vera said her family wants her to move out.

"I have asthma, and they're afraid that if anything ever happens, I won't be able to get out or the ambulance won't be able to get in," Vera said.

Graham, who is a court reporter, said she's not sure whether she'll seek legal action, but if she does, she said it would be in honor of her mother and to protect the people who still live in Colonial Park.

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