Coventry family 'still can't accept' son's asthma death

The family of a man who died following a severe asthma attack say they cannot accept he is gone and blame the ambulance service for not taking his condition seriously enough. Roman Barr, 22, from Coventry, died in December 2023 after his family had to drive him to hospital - during which they had a car crash - as he had been assessed as a category two emergency and faced several hours waiting for an ambulance. An inquest into his death in March concluded that on the balance of probabilities, earlier intervention by paramedics would have prevented his death. West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) told the BBC it had apologised to Roman's family and had since implemented a number of changes. The 22-year-old's family continue to visit his gravestone near their home in Coventry, but continue to find his death hard to accept. Roman's dad Darren, who had called WMAS on the day of his death on 14 December 2023, said his son "should be stood by me". He said the pair were best friends and would often train together in the gym. "[Roman] should be basking in the sun, he should be with us, he should be smiling and joking," Barr said. "To realise that my son is there, I can't accept, I just can

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