Daughter of Teesside man who died waiting for ambulance continues fight
A three-day inquest is taking place today
Last updated 6th Jan 2026
The family of a Teesside man who died while waiting for an ambulance are set to find out what happened as a full inquest takes place today - after a seven-year fight.
62 year-old former steel worker Peter Coates from Dormanstown had a lung condition and relied on a machine for oxygen but in 2019 a power cut caused it to fail.
His daughter, Kellie, said: "It's been frustating that it's taken this long to get to this point. We've been battling really to get to the answers of what happened on that day and leading up to his death. It's just been a real challenge to get that information, so it's frustration really that it's just taken this long to get some answers.
"It's been hard on the family and I guess the longer that this goes on, the longer it is before you can get that closure. He actually passed away a month before his birthday so even his birthday is like a memory of his passing as well now. It's tough.
"It's tough anyway when you lose a loved one but to lose somebody and not really know the truth of how it happened, I think that's the big issue for us through all of this. Personally, I haven't had the chance to grieve because I've been so focussed on trying to get the truth, all of the paper work and it's just been very clinical, thinking about the next step and the next thing we have to do.
"Dad was awesome. Born and bred in Dormanstown. Everybody knew my dad and when he passed, there were so many fond stories that people would bring in about how they knew him and you know, he was a cheeky little chappy when he was younger and some of the naughty stuff he used to get up to in the neighourhood and stuff. He was just liked by everybody.
"He got to see a lot of his grandchildren and he's got a grandchild now that he never met but he got to see a lot of them. He got a lot of time with them early on but obviously they're all kind of grown and they're all quite young. The grandchidlren were young when he passed so they haven't had that benefit of having their granddad around.
"He was good fun and he worked all of his life for British Steel until the blast furnace went but he was happy with his life. He wasn't well. He had really bad COPD and he was reliant on the oxygen machine but he was happy. He got visitors every day. He was only 62, he was completely sound of mind, he knew what he wanted, he was happy in life and he was a happy chappy."
The North East Ambulance Service say they won't be commenting on the inquest until there's an outcome.