Doris Sammut was rushing her unconscious daughter to hospital early yesterday morning when she got stuck in traffic for more than half an hour in San Ġwann because of a badly parked car near the former Liquid Club.

Ms Sammut panicked as acid continued building up in her diabetic 20-year-old daughter’s bloodstream.

It was about 1.30 a.m. She was helpless – stuck behind a coach that could not drive on because a car was parked badly. Traffic had accumulated behind her and the side of the road was lined with parked cars.

The area generates a lot of traffic over the weekend because of the Aria nightclub (former Liquid) and two reception venues – Il Cortile and Ir-Razzett l-Abjad, situated there.

“It’s shameful. I expect clubs to ensure they have parking areas and see that their guests do not park badly. Had it been someone having a heart attack, the person would have died,” Ms Sammut said, still shaken by the experience.

Il Cortile owner Herman Bonaci and Ivan Gravina, managing director of Ir-Razzett l-Abjad, agreed that there was a problem in the area ever since Aria opened earlier this summer.

Both said their venues had a private parking area.

Mr Gravina said sometimes guests got blocked inside it because of cars parked badly.

“The problem will only be solved once the police start towing cars,” he said.

Dominic Micallef, owner of Aria, said that when the club opened, at 11 p.m., the roads were already full of cars as weddings usually started at 7.30 p.m.

“Obviously, one cannot point out which car owner went to what venue,” he said.

Aria had three parking areas covering eight tumuli and would soon have another.

On Saturday night only two thirds were full, he noted.

No parking signs were placed along the main road, with the permission of the local council.

When there was a big event, two police officers were hired to manage traffic, he said, adding that he wanted to give customers the best service possible.

“Having said all that, I cannot oblige someone who still wants to park in the street,” he said.

The case of Ms Sammut and her daughter highlights how important it is to resolve the problem, whoever’s fault it is.

At about 1 a.m. her daughter’s friend phoned her to tell her that her daughter was not well. When the girls arrived home she immediately realised what the problem with her daughter, Paula, was.

Her body lacked insulin, which turns glucose into energy.

The result is that the body starts burning its own fat and ketone acids invade the bloodstream.

She knew it could be fatal if untreated.

The symptoms where all there: vomiting, fainting and the distinctive smell of ketones in the breath.

Ms Sammut, who lives in Rabat, got into the friend’s car and they headed to hospital via Naxxar.

On passing Aria, they got stuck behind the coach. A taxi driver helped her call an ambulance.

It took more than half an hour for the coach driver, guided by people who tried to help, to steer the bus onto the pavement and squeeze through. At that moment, the ambulance arrived and followed Ms Sammut to hospital.

This was not the first time her daughter has had to be rushed to hospital to administer intravenous fluids. Only, this time, Ms Sammut feared she would not get there on time.

Questions sent to the police remained unanswered at the time of writing.