Nurse tells how Scottish couple died in Tunisia terror attack

A SCOT murdered in a terror attack in Tunisia died from his injuries after being left waiting in an ambulance for 20 minutes, an inquest has heard.

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An inquest claims the McQuires were shot near the hotel pool as they tried to flee the attack

James McQuire, 66, was on holiday with wife Ann, 63, when Seifeddine Rezgui opened fire at the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel. The couple, from Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, were killed along with 36 others, including Billy and Lisa Graham, from Bankfoot in Perthshire. 

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An inquest into Rezgui's 30 British victims yesterday heard that the McQuires were shot near the hotel swimming pool as they tried to flee. 

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Mrs McQuire died at the scene and her husband in an ambulance as he was being taken to hospital. 

Fellow tourist Carol Harrison, a staff nurse at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, tended to Mr McQuire as he lay wounded but conscious next to the body of his wife of 43 years. 

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Nurse and tourist Carol Harrison tended to Mr Mcquire as he laid next to his dead wife at the scene

I asked several times, 'Can we go? This man is having trouble breathing, he needs to go to go hospital

Nurse & fellow tourist Carol Harrison

She accompanied him in the ambulance but said its departure from the hotel was delayed by 20 minutes. She described the ambulance as a "patient transport" vehicle, rather than an emergency one, and said it was lacking equipment, except oxygen.

Asked how long it waited outside the hotel, she told the inquest: "It was 15 to 20 minutes. I asked several times, 'Can we go? This man is having trouble breathing, he needs to go to hospital'." 

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Mr McQuire suffered a cardiac arrest as the ambulance made its way to hospital, she added. 

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Mrs Harrison claimed the ambulance carrying Mr McQuire was delayed and he suffered a cardiac arrest

The nurse told how she and husband Brian, a trained first aider, had gone to the aid of the injured in the aftermath of the attack in June 2015. 

She decided not to move Mr McQuire as she feared a wound to his pelvis, which had stopped bleeding, would restart if she did. As she comforted him, hotel staff came and lifted him on to a sunlounger before taking him to the ambulance. 

Mrs Harrison also told the inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice in London that, apart from one doctor and some ambulance staff, she did not see any other medics at the scene. 

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The couple passed away along with 36 other tourists in June 2015

The McQuires were enjoying their first holiday after retiring and their son Stuart told the inquest they had hoped it would be the "first of many".. 

In a written submission, he said: "They were both stolen from us in a senseless attack, along with so many. "I feel they were just starting a new chapter in their lives where they could spend more time with each other." 

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Mr McQuire, a shipyard engineer, and his wife, a medical receptionist, were keen musicians who performed in a band called Tartan Spirits and were also regular churchgoers. 

Couple who survived Tunisia beach massacre on their future

Stuart McQuire also revealed that his wife, Nicola, had recently given birth to his parent's first grandchild, Lily Ann, named after her grandmother.. 

He added: "It's heartbreaking for the family that they have missed out on meeting Lily and they will not be able to watch her grow."

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