A BADLY injured rugby player who waited in agony for an hour before an ambulance arrived could have lost his leg had it not been for the swift actions of a hospital nurse.

As reported last week, Latchford Albion amateur rugby league player Ryan Barnes suffered a horrific knee injury that caused a match to be abandoned at Parr, St Helens.

Now the 20-year-old's stepmum, Jayne, has praised hospital staff but heaped fresh criticism on the regional ambulance service for failing to attend the scene more rapidly.

She said: "Ryan is lucky not to have lost his leg.

"When they got to hospital they could not get a pulse in his leg and it was turning blue.

"If it was not for the quick response of the nurse who put it back in position and got the blood flowing, he could have lost his leg."

Ryan dislocated his left knee, causing the medial and cruciate ligaments to snap and a bone to fracture. He faces a series of operations - the first of which he underwent this week at Whiston Hospital.

Jayne, aged 47, who was at the game with Ryan's dad, John, added: "We're angry about the wait - it was absolutely pathetic and I've never known anything like it."

Ryan, a trainee mechanic in Warrington and part-time St Helens College student, faces 12 to 18 months on the sidelines.