Joanne's Story

Emergency ambulance practitioner Joanne Jones was headbutted twice by a patient, which also left her with a bloodied nose.

The assault in 2023, plus a succession of others – including a ‘terrifying’ incident of verbal abuse in June 2024 – has left the mother-of-two unable to work and in need of counselling.

Joanne said: "My aim is to come back to work, but the thought of it still makes me feel physically sick.

“I feel stupid and like I’m letting everybody down, but I’m just not ready yet.”

Joanne, who is training to become a paramedic, was on placement at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in July 2023 when a patient she was trying to assist became aggressive.
 
She recalls: “We had just transferred him to a hospital trolley when he became entangled in the various tubes and wires.

“As I tried to untangle him, he became aggressive and started thrashing around.

“That’s when he moved his head back and went full throttle, headbutting me twice, and continued to punch and kick out until other members of staff could restrain him.

“I could feel my face swelling, so I had to go and present at the emergency department as a patient.

“As I was chatting to the triage nurse, my nose just exploded with blood.”

Joanne was given pain relief and sent for an x-ray, which revealed a potential small fracture of her jaw.

Joanne, who is being supported by her partner John Paul Jones, an emergency ambulance practitioner based in Rhyl, said: “I couldn’t eat or drink for days afterwards.

“Even now, more than a year on, I have no sensation in the right-side of my face, including in my bottom lip.

“After that, I had a very unlucky run of violence and aggression incidents, which culminated in a terrifying incident last June in which a patient threatened to kill me, which was the last straw.”

Joanne was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and has had regular counselling, including prolonged exposure therapy to try and overcome the trauma.

At Llandudno Magistrates’ Court in January 2025, Bradley Roberts, 24, of Rhos-on-Sea, was sentenced to 52 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH), and was also ordered to pay £400 compensation to Joanne.