Queens family says 911 took an hour to respond as teen suffered a stroke

The family of a 14-year-old sophomore at St. Francis Prep in Flushing is demanding answers from the FDNY after they say 911 took about an hour to send an ambulance as the teen suffered a rare stroke. In late September, the boy – identified only as Kevin – developed sudden dizziness, double vision and trouble walking. His sisters recognized the signs of a stroke and his father called 911 multiple times, but no ambulance arrived; the parents eventually drove him themselves to New York-Presbyterian Queens, where the diagnosis was confirmed. He was transferred to the hospital's Washington Heights facility and is expected to make a full recovery, though some vision effects linger. The FDNY said it is 'conducting a thorough investigation' into how the call was handled and acknowledged that 'New Yorkers deserve timely, reliable emergency care.' The family's story ran alongside the comptroller's broader report that life-threatening response times are up 41% in a decade, and was one of ABC7's most-read items on October 17.