AN Abergavenny taxi driver who picked up a mother and her six-year-old epileptic daughter from Nevill Hall hospital and left them on a country lane a mile from their home in the early hours of the morning has told the Chronicle she's 'deeply sorry' she didn't handle the situation differently.

On the evening of March 19, at 7:38pm, six-year-old Riven Hall who suffers from Severe Complex Epilepsy was rushed to Nevill Hall by ambulance after having a fit for the first time in over a year.

Riven's mother Riki Hall told the Chronicle, "Riven has always had epilepsy but her latest fit was particularly worrying because she hadn't had one for so long and she was also clustering, which meant that as soon as one seizure ended she was immediately gong into another, so we had to get her to a controlled environment with the appropriate medical care as quickly as possible."

Accompanied by her mother, Riven was taken to Nevill Hall hospital at 7:38pm and after treatment was discharged at 11:15pm when a taxi from Sheila's Cars was contracted by the hospital to take them on the 30 plus mile trip back to Franksbridge.

Miss Hall explained, "The hospital was great and when we got into the taxi at midnight, Riven was completely exhausted but glad to be finally going home.

"Yet a mile away from our house the driver stopped the car on a country lane because there was a puddle on the road caused by an overflowing ditch. To my mind the puddle wasn't particularly deep but the driver said she would get out and check to see if it covered her foot and if it did, she wasn't going to drive through it because she had a new turbo fitted on the car and didn't want to run the risk of the water getting into the vehicle's exhaust."

Miss Hall added, "After checking the water on the road, the driver returned to the car and told me that she wasn't going to take us any further and that Riven and I could either get out there and walk the rest of the journey, or she could drive us back to Builth Wells."

Miss Hall said, "Getting dropped off in Builth seemed particularly foolish because we'd have been stuck there at least until the next morning, and I didn't particularly like the idea of waking Riven up and carrying her through the wind and the rain for a mile in the dark.

"I told the taxi driver there was an alternative route back to my house, but because I don't drive and haven't lived in the area for long, I couldn't give her the exact directions and her car didn't have a Sat Nav on which to find the exact route."

Miss Hall alleges that the taxi driver insisted that getting out or being dropped off in Builth were the only two options available and said, "In hindsight I should have just refused to get out of the car.

"My daughter was in her pyjamas and exhausted, and it was raining, very cold and pitch black outside, however, I was too tired to argue, and just wanted to get my daughter home. It had been a terrible evening and I was aware that if I exposed Riven to any more undue stress it could trigger another epileptic episode."

Miss Hall said, "When I finally got out of the car I didn't have a coat, and Riven had nothing but a blanket wrapped around her pyjamas. It was very cold outside and there was a mixture of rain and sleet falling.

"The taxi driver said 'I feel bad about leaving you' and got a raincoat from her boot and said, 'Here, wrap that around your daughter.'

"By this point Riven had woken up and as the taxi drove off I began to walk the last mile home with my daughter in my arms."

Walking through the water on the road that the taxi driver had refused to drive through, Miss Hall said, "It was so dark you couldn't see your own hand in front of your face, and although my feet got wet walking through the puddle, it didn't come past my ankles."

Because Riven had been kept in hospital for a few days following previous epileptic episodes, Miss Hall had packed a bag for each of them and the combined weight of carrying her daughter and the bags in such conditions proved too much, and at 1.21am she finally decided to telephone her mother who was looking after Miss Hall's four-year-old twins and seven-year-old foster sister to ask for help.

Miss Hall said, "Thankfully I had just enough battery life left on my mobile to make the call, and my mum had to wake up the three kids, bundle them into the car and come and pick us up."

Miss Hall's mother Erica Hall, who is also a policewoman and foster carer, told the Chronicle, "I was absolutely disgusted that my daughter and granddaughter had been abandoned on the side of a country lane at that time in the morning and in those conditions. Anything could have happened. Riven could have had another seizure and what then?

"I actually telephoned the taxi driver in question, Sheila Cooke, and told her how angry I was and how she as a woman should have known better, but she still didn't apologise.

"I'm just grateful that both Riven and Ricki made it back to the house safe and sound, and hope that something of this nature doesn't happen to anyone else because it is very concerning."

Miss Hall added, "Thinking back to the callous way Riven and I were treated does make me angry, in fact I still haven't told my partner who is currently serving with the army overseas because I know exactly how upset he would be.

"Lots of people travel up and down that same road every day, and I still believe we could have got the taxi through that puddle without damaging her car. In fact everyone where I live has now given my their telephone numbers to store on my mobile and told me if anything happens like this again to give them a call and they'll come pick me up.

"Additionally, I feel the hospital should ensure that any taxi they contract in future will guarantee that the patients safety is paramount, because it certainly didn't appear to be in this incident."

Sheila Cooke told the Chronicle, "In over 30 years of driving I have never had a complaint against me until now and I am deeply sorry I didn't handle the situation differently. In my defence I would say that there was an awful lot of water on the road and when I got out to test it, it came way over my ankles. It was, and still remains my professional opinion that there was no way I could have driven my car through that water safely."

Sheila added, "I never told Miss Hall I could drop her back in Builth, but I did ask if there was an alternative route back to her house and although she said there was, she couldn't give me the directions because she hadn't lived in the area for long. I also asked if there was someone she could telephone to meet her but she said there wasn't.

"At the time I didn't realise that Miss Hall's daughter had recently suffered from an epileptic fit, and in hindsight I should have given her the option to return to hospital.

"Although it wasn't raining it was cold outside and there was ice on the road, so I should have walked a little of the way with them to make sure they were alright.

"Overall I'm gutted that it happened but I never kicked anyone out of the car and I did apologise to Mrs Hall on the telephone the next day. I am truly very sorry that this whole thing has happened, and lessons have definitely been learnt."

A spokesperson for Nevill Hall Hospital said, "The Health Board is aware of a complaint by one of our patients regarding a local taxi firm and we are currently looking into the issues that have been raised. The Health Board takes any concerns expressed in relation to the services provided by contracted companies seriously. Currently the firm remains on our list of approved companies for patient transport."

The spokesperson added, "As a result of this particular incident I can confirm that we have asked taxi firms contracted to us to return patients to hospital if for any reason they cannot return them to their destination safely."