Ambulance viewers were ‘disgusted’ last night when a man on the programme took up vital resources after an extreme Halloween joke went wrong.
The partner of a 52-year-old man called 999 when she found him covered in blood and seemingly attempting to hang himself.
What happened with the fake hanging on Ambulance?
Distressed, she said on the phone: “Hello, my boyfriend tried to kill himself. He tried to hang himself. I took him down.”
She said he wasn’t awake but was breathing and had heavy bleeding coming from a wound on his head.
Read more: Ambulance: BBC viewers in pieces after ‘desperately sad’ episode featuring suicides
The caller then revealed the patient had woken up – and proceeded to have an argument with him.
Viewers heard her raging: “I’m getting you a [bleeping] ambulance, mate. No, there’s no two ways about it. I’m not going to calm down! I’m getting you an ambulance, you’re going to the [bleeping] hospital. Stop what?”
She then said to him: “Were you playing a practical joke on me? Oh you [bleeping] [bleep].”
Reported hanging a ‘Halloween joke’
The call handlers then realised it had been some kind of sick Halloween prank.
The caller told them: “It was a Halloween joke, he said. Still need an ambulance, please.”
The patient, sounding groggy, came on the phone and explained: “Hi, yeah I’m fine mate. Oh I did a practical joke. Well, ’cause it’s Halloween, I covered myself in fake blood, I pretended to hang myself, she screamed, I slipped. I just banged my head on the staircase, that’s all. She’s a bit distressed, I think I freaked her out.”
The 999 call handler then said, sounding annoyed: “Yeah, do you think?”
I really hope that practical joke guy learnt his lesson! Absolutely no need to make hanging a joke.
The man’s girlfriend said through tears: “I’m so sorry to waste your time. It’s not a funny joke.”
However, the man’s head wound was serious, with police who were on the scene saying they could see his skull.
Six emergency crews had been dispatched. And what’s more, when the patient told them he had actually hit his head on a whaling grenade – a device used in hunting the sea creatures – armed police showed up, too.
Further highlighting how serious it is to waste emergency resources, the paramedics’ radio buzzed requesting help for someone who had been stabbed in the chest – and they were not available to respond, because of the joker.
How did BBC viewers react?
On Twitter, BBC viewers were fuming. One said: “I am honestly disgusted that someone thinks pretending to hang themselves is a practical joke you can play on your partner. #Ambulance.”
A second tweeted: “That guy who pretended to hang himself as a joke should be utterly disgusted, suicide is NOT a joke #Ambulance.”
Read more: Ambulance: Viewers in tears over ‘compassionate’ bystander’s care for suicidal woman
A third wrote: “I really hope that practical joke guy learnt his lesson! Absolutely no need to make hanging a joke when people are finding it hard enough to open up! Makes my blood boil when I just lost a good friend to suicide.”
Another put: “Playing a practical joke on your partner by pretending to hang yourself is so absolutely [bleeping] stupid #Ambulance.”
Someone else said: “Pretending to hang himself as a ‘Halloween joke?’ WTAF? What an absolute [bleep]! #Ambulance.”
I am honestly disgusted that someone thinks pretending to hang themselves is a practical joke you can play on your partner. #Ambulance
— Josh (@makejoshscrum) November 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/wellimkendra/status/1324123644734377986
I really hope that practical joke guy learnt his lesson! Absolutely no need to make hanging a joke when people are finding it hard enough to open up! Make my blood boil when I just lost a good friend to suicide 💔 😔 #Ambulance
— Eilish Barry (@Eilish_Barry) November 5, 2020
What did you think of Ambulance? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.