999 operator found out teen brother was killed when colleague answered the call
The sister of a teenager killed in a suspected hit-and-run has told of the heartbreaking moment she found out her brother was dead.
Welsh Ambulance Service worker Abi Lloyd Roberts found out her younger brother Josh, had been killed when her colleague answered a 999 call for a fatal car crash.
Josh Lloyd Roberts, 19, was found in the road by a passerby after being struck by a car in June last year.
Devastated ambulance worker Abi said her ‘heart sank’ when the call came in as she knew he was due to walk along the road in Caernarfon, North Wales.
When she heard her colleague answer the phone, she quizzed them for details of the crash, and asked: ‘What’s happened? Who?’.
She shared that she desperately tried to reach her brother after the worker told her a man aged between 19 and 20 had been killed.
She said: ‘My heart sank.
‘Because about two hours earlier Josh was texting me saying, ‘I’m walking home’.
‘I’ve never screamed so much in my life.
‘Because I knew it was Josh, I just needed someone to confirm it was him.
‘But I knew from the moment the call came in, and I don’t know how, but I knew.’
Abi ran out of the room and tried to call Josh, but there was no answer.
She left work early as she ‘felt’ something was wrong. Shortly after she got to her home in Caernarfon, the family received confirmation from the police that Josh had died.
Josh, who was studying at Cardiff Metropolitan University was a keen football player and Everton fan.
Welsh FA chief executive Noel Mooney shared on X: ‘Very sorry to hear of Josh’s passing. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
Football fans held a minute’s applause in his memory during the country’s home match with Armenia at the 19th minute of the game.
Abi said: ‘He loved Everton.
‘Football was his religion so to speak
‘I wake up every morning and hope it’s not true.
‘I look at my phone every morning and see his picture and then I remember.
‘He’ll be 19 forever.’
After his death, Abi made the decision to leave the ambulance service.
She shared: ‘I feel like I’m stuck in time, I’m not going back to my work, I have PTSD, I’m afraid that something like that is going to happen again’.
A 32-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving and has since been released on bail.
In a statement, North Wales Police said: ‘We continue to investigate the tragic death of Joshua Roberts and the family are being kept up to date by family liaison officers.’
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