A TWO-YEAR-OLD was “lucky to avoid brain damage” when she was forced to wait two hours for an ambulance after suffering a potentially fatal seizure.

Alexis ‘Lexi’ Bessant was playing at home when she started convulsing.

The toddler was immediately taken to Tywyn Hospital to receive urgent medical treatment, but staff quickly decided that Lexi would require an ambulance to go to a general hospital.

Lexi, still in the grips of her fit, then waited for an agonising two hours on Saturday afternoon, 4 November before an air ambulance eventually arrived to take her to Ysbyty Gwynedd where she remained under observation for five days.

According to Lexi’s mother Sarah Bessant, the helicopter crew had actually arrived half an hour before they reached the two-year-old but had not been met by an escort, wasting further valuable minutes.

Sarah was horrified by the delays.

“Overall, before we managed to get Lexi to Bangor she had been in a seizure for three hours,” she said.

“Luckily staff at the hospital were able to get her out of her fit and she’s made a full recovery.

“However, that was much to the surprise of the doctors who said they couldn’t believe she had no brain damage.

“We were very lucky but the next person who has to wait over two hours for an ambulance might not be.

“It’s just totally unacceptable taking so long to get to us and having nobody meet the helicopter paramedics.

Lexi, who has celebrated her third birthday since the incident, has had a history of seizures but this particular episode was the worst by far. Jonathan Sweet, the Welsh Ambulance Service’s Operations Manager for North West Wales, said: “We would like to sincerely apologise to Mrs Bessant for Lexi’s wait to be transferred to Ysbyty Gwynedd.“We have no doubt that this must have been a very distressing experience, and are keen to talk directly to Mrs Bessant about her concerns. In the meantime we send Lexi our best wishes for her continuing recovery.”Read the full story in today’s Meirionnydd edition of the Cambrian News