20 years of regret over leaving as people died; More lives could have been saved says paramedic Tony.

Byline: LUKE TRAYNOR

IFEEL sorry that there were people who were perfectly saveable but they just weren't getting any priority." These are the words of Tony Edwards - the only professional paramedic to make it to Leppings Lane at Hillsborough.

The 53-year-old still looks back with huge regret at the chaotic response that left 44 ambulances parked up outside the stadium.

On arriving, Tony and his driver were stopped from entering Hillsborough by a policeman who wrongly claimed fans were fighting.

Tony's boss - the driver - ignored the command and pressed the sirens to motion him through.

Tony, an Everton fan born and raised in Norris Green and with a brother living in Croxteth Park, still bears the emotional scars of that day.

Tony has only spoken to a couple of media organisations and agreed to talk to the ECHO about his Hillsborough nightmare.

He said: "We were on routine admissions, a nice easy day. Not emergency duty so no pressure.

"At 3pm we heard there was commotion at the stadium but didn't pay too much attention. We thought it was fighting. But we had heard there may be a fatality.

"We got the call and were told to report to a senior officer. As we were guided in I could see other ambulances arriving.

"A police officer said 'You can't go on the pitch, they are still fighting'.

"But the ambulance officer said 'I don't give a f*** who's telling you [that], get on the pitch', and he slapped on our two-tone horn which made the way for us.

"It wasn't long before I saw a group of spectators with a body on a billboard. I thought 'he looks dead'.

"There were lots of people on the pitch and we went through a column of policemen and stopped in the 18 yard box.

"A woman came up to me and said she'd been resuscitating someone. I kept looking up the pitch to see if other ambulances were coming..

"I was taken with the woman and other people were shouting at me for 'oxygen, doctor, defibrillator'.

"There was a huge amount of demands and massive confusion. I kept looking if someone was coming as I wasn't expecting to be the incident officer.

"Clearly this was a major incident and clearly nobody was fighting.

"I saw four people on billboards on their backs.

"If there had been trained people about they would have been in the recovery position.

"The ambulance doors were opening and I was having to make decisions. Bodies were everywhere.

"In the ambulance I had Victoria Hicks, and Trevor Hicks trying to resuscitate his daughter.

"There was a Nottingham lady trying to save someone else's life.

There was a body by my legs and the policeman was holding some oxygen.

"We had three people in the ambulance which normally takes, at best, one. I was standing over a body I couldn't attend to.

"I then said that we had to get off the pitch [to get to hospital] and that decision has made me live with 20 years of regret.

"I feel sorry that there were people who were perfectly saveable but they just weren't getting any priority.

"Most of the ambulances were parked up by the gym - but not coming through on to the pitch.

"I always thought I would be interviewed for the Taylor enquiry.

But I later found out I wasn't because of the ruling that everyone was dead by 3.15pm.

"I don't agree with that and it should be challenged. It was a convenient time. But what if they weren't dead? "That changes the type of investigation. On that day I was left in a situation I shouldn't have been put in.

"I support Anne Williams (she lost her son Kevin, 15, and is fighting the cut-off point ruling) in her case.

3.15pm is an arbitrary time.

"What if crews had been on the pitch with proper equipment? It's nonsense, it's professional arrogance.

"You wouldn't know how many were dead if crews didn't get inside the perimeter fence." "When we got off the pitch, I knew there were people that had to be helped and I should have stayed.

"I do feel bad about the day. I always believe if the response had been there lives could have potentially have been saved..

"I stayed with the ambulance service for another six years. I tried to pull myself together. But I started to have problems with anxiety and got cross with my employer.

"I didn't get counselling immediately. There was a lot of aggression in me." Tony left the ambulance service in 1995 and went to live on the Isle of Bute.

He added: "I haven't returned since.

"Sometimes in swimming baths, it sounds like the noise around the perimeter fence.

"I worked in a bike shop until I sold it and I now work for a community recycling association.

"It's a new peaceful life." email [e-mail]

TIMETABLE LIVERPOOL Town Hall will open from Tuesday to Thursday for people to sign a Hillsborough remembrance book.

The memorial service takes place at Anfield on Wednesday.

It starts at 2.30pm and runs until 4pm.

A new banner will be unveiled during the service.

Liverpool's Lord Mayor, Cllr Steve Rotheram, will make an address alongside Trevor Hicks of the Hillsborough Family Support Group.

A family representative will be presented with the Freedom of the City honour by Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.

Rafael Benitez and Cllr Rotheram will also lay a scarf on the pitch and release 96 red balloons.

Gerry Marsden will perform You'll Never Walk Alone.

At 3.06pm a two-minute silence will be observed across Liverpool, Nottingham and Sheffield.

At 3.08pm all the civic, cathedral and church bells will ring 96 times.

Later the Mayor will present individuals scrolls to members of the 96 families and letters of support from the Queen and Prime Minister will be read..

CAPTION(S):

SCENE OF DISASTER: The Leppings Lane end - where Tony's ambulance headed - at 15.07