A six-year-old girl whose mother feared had broken her back was left lying face down for three hours while she waited for an ambulance - despite five frantic 999 calls. Kiera O'Brien was left screaming in pain after she fell off a bouncy castle at a family birthday party and landed painfully on her face. Her terrified mother Karen Robinson, 38, was too scared to move the crying youngster for fear of doing permanent damage and frantically called for an ambulance. Karen Robinson, 38, was left terrified when her daughter Kiera O'Brien, six, fell off a bouncy castle at a family wedding and lay on the floor crying in pain . Mrs Robinson dialled 999 and said she was too scared to move her daughter, fearing she had broken her back . Mrs Robinson said Kiera was 'very frightened and in a lot of pain' while waiting for the ambulance . But despite five desperate calls it took almost three hours for paramedics to arrive and take the little girl to hospital - which was just ten minutes away. Bosses at North East Ambulance Service have apologised for the delay but Mrs Robinson, from Sunderland in the North East, said she was 'fobbed off' and blamed the wait on cuts. Mrs Robinson said: 'It is ridiculous that it took so long. 'Five different people called asking for updates on when the ambulance would arrive. 'I think it is absolutely disgusting for a six-year-old girl to be left lying on a cold, hard floor for three hours. 'They said they had other priority call outs, such as heart attacks, but we felt like we were being fobbed off. 'I don't blame the paramedics, they were brilliant when they arrived. It has to be to do with cuts in the service. 'She was very frightened and in a lot of pain while waiting for the ambulance. 'Luckily, she didn't have a broken back.' Kiera was at her relative's eighth birthday party at the Holy Rosary church in Farringdon, Sunderland, on Sunday, when she toppled off the bouncy castle. Her family called for an ambulance at around 2.15pm, but a paramedic didn't arrive until 5pm, followed by an ambulance which took her to Sunderland Royal Hospital. The youngster - who is still off school with bruising - was released after medics confirmed she had not broken her back. Recalling the ordeal, Mrs Robinson said: 'There was a bouncy castle and Kiera does love to go wild on them. 'She jumped quite high and fell off, hitting the floor. She landed and she was screaming in agony. 'We didn't want to move her as we were worried it might do more damage, it was absolutely terrifying, I felt helpless. 'You can tell the difference between the noise your child makes when they have a scrape or tumble and when they are really hurt. Despite five frantic calls to the ambulance service, paramedics took almost three hours to arrive . Kiera was rushed to Sunderland Royal Hospital in an ambulance - a journey that took ten minutes . 'She fell at about 2.15pm and we called the ambulance straight away. 'We called about five times. The hospital is only about 10 minutes away so we expected an ambulance to turn up pretty soon. 'The rapid response ambulance turned up at about 5pm and another ambulance came at about 5.15pm.' A spokeswoman for North East Ambulance Service apologised and blamed the delay on a 'high volume of emergency 999 calls'. She added: 'We are sorry that on this occasion we did not reach the patient as quickly as we would normally have liked. 'Unfortunately, no ambulance crews were immediately available due to a high volume of emergency 999 calls. The first call came in at 2.16pm, and our Rapid Response paramedic arrived at 4.56pm, followed by an ambulance.'
Kiera O'Brien, 6, fell off a bouncy castle at a family birthday party .
Was left lying face down in pain while mother Karen Robinson dialled 999 .
Mrs Robinson was scared to move Kiera in case her back was broken .
Despite five 999 calls the ambulance took almost three hours to arrive .
Bosses at North East Ambulance Service have apologised for the delay .
A six-year-old girl whose mother feared had broken her back was left lying face down for three hours while she waited for an ambulance - despite five frantic 999 calls. Kiera O'Brien was left screaming in pain after she fell off a bouncy castle at a family birthday party and landed painfully on her face. Her terrified mother Karen Robinson, 38, was too scared to move the crying youngster for fear of doing permanent damage and frantically called for an ambulance. Karen Robinson, 38, was left terrified when her daughter Kiera O'Brien, six, fell off a bouncy castle at a family wedding and lay on the floor crying in pain . Mrs Robinson dialled 999 and said she was too scared to move her daughter, fearing she had broken her back . Mrs Robinson said Kiera was 'very frightened and in a lot of pain' while waiting for the ambulance . But despite five desperate calls it took almost three hours for paramedics to arrive and take the little girl to hospital - which was just ten minutes away. Bosses at North East Ambulance Service have apologised for the delay but Mrs Robinson, from Sunderland in the North East, said she was 'fobbed off' and blamed the wait on cuts. Mrs Robinson said: 'It is ridiculous that it took so long. 'Five different people called asking for updates on when the ambulance would arrive. 'I think it is absolutely disgusting for a six-year-old girl to be left lying on a cold, hard floor for three hours. 'They said they had other priority call outs, such as heart attacks, but we felt like we were being fobbed off. 'I don't blame the paramedics, they were brilliant when they arrived. It has to be to do with cuts in the service. 'She was very frightened and in a lot of pain while waiting for the ambulance. 'Luckily, she didn't have a broken back.' Kiera was at her relative's eighth birthday party at the Holy Rosary church in Farringdon, Sunderland, on Sunday, when she toppled off the bouncy castle. Her family called for an ambulance at around 2.15pm, but a paramedic didn't arrive until 5pm, followed by an ambulance which took her to Sunderland Royal Hospital. The youngster - who is still off school with bruising - was released after medics confirmed she had not broken her back. Recalling the ordeal, Mrs Robinson said: 'There was a bouncy castle and Kiera does love to go wild on them. 'She jumped quite high and fell off, hitting the floor. She landed and she was screaming in agony. 'We didn't want to move her as we were worried it might do more damage, it was absolutely terrifying, I felt helpless. 'You can tell the difference between the noise your child makes when they have a scrape or tumble and when they are really hurt. Despite five frantic calls to the ambulance service, paramedics took almost three hours to arrive . Kiera was rushed to Sunderland Royal Hospital in an ambulance - a journey that took ten minutes . 'She fell at about 2.15pm and we called the ambulance straight away. 'We called about five times. The hospital is only about 10 minutes away so we expected an ambulance to turn up pretty soon. 'The rapid response ambulance turned up at about 5pm and another ambulance came at about 5.15pm.' A spokeswoman for North East Ambulance Service apologised and blamed the delay on a 'high volume of emergency 999 calls'. She added: 'We are sorry that on this occasion we did not reach the patient as quickly as we would normally have liked. 'Unfortunately, no ambulance crews were immediately available due to a high volume of emergency 999 calls. The first call came in at 2.16pm, and our Rapid Response paramedic arrived at 4.56pm, followed by an ambulance.'
her back was left lying face down for three hours castle at a family birthday party and landed Robinson, 38, was too scared to move the crying daughter Kiera O'Brien, six, fell off a bouncy crying in pain . Mrs Robinson dialled 999 and minutes away. Bosses at North East Ambulance Service have apologised for the delay but Mrs Despite five frantic calls to the ambulance service, paramedics took almost three hours to