Crystle Galloway, a mother of three from Florida, died three days after experiencing a stroke. The four paramedics who arrived on the scene have been suspended after reportedly questioning whether or not she could afford the ambulance ride instead of transporting her to the hospital.
via People:
In the early morning hours of July 4, Nicole Black found her daughter, 30-year-old Crystle Galloway, unresponsive in a bathtub just six days after she had given birth to a son via cesarean. When Galloway regained consciousness a short time later and complained about her head, Black quickly called emergency services and explained that her daughter was breathing but was “drooling from the mouth,” she told the Tampa Bay Times.
But when Hillsborough County Fire Rescue officials arrived, Black claims that instead of providing immediate treatment, they questioned whether the family could afford the ambulance ride to the hospital.
“My daughter begged for her life,” she said. “The only thing they were worried about was my daughter had a new baby and she couldn’t afford an ambulance.”
The medics then carried Galloway down three flights of stairs and continued to spend precious time talking about the cost of the ambulance, her mother claims. So, Black told ABC Action News, she decided to transport her daughter herself.
“The whole conversation as the EMS drivers put my child in my car was that [it] was best for us because we couldn’t afford an ambulance,” she told the news station. “My daughter begged for her life, she begged!”
In total, the ride to Brandon Regional Hospital — just three blocks away — would have amounted to $600, the Times reports.
Once at the hospital, scans revealed Galloway’s brain was bleeding, and she was then airlifted to Tampa General Hospital. She fell into a coma and passed away on July 9, just days before her 31st birthday.
But the paramedics are disputing Black’s account, according to the Times, saying she voluntarily offered to take her daughter to the hospital and only requested their help to move her downstairs after she spoke with two sheriff’s deputies who first arrived on the scene.
In a statement sent to PEOPLE by the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, Lt. John “Mike” Morris said the medics would have transported Galloway had her condition seemed “critical” when they arrived.
“If the daughter presented that she was critical,” Lt. Morris explained, “I’m certain our crew would have highly advised that the daughter be transported by EMS.”
