My elderly neighbor Betty does not drive. She depends on her family, church friends and taxis to get around town to do shopping, visit the doctor and run other errands. She called a cab this morning to take her to a medical appointment. I happened to be upstairs when the cab arrived, a mini-van taxi where the passenger enters the vehicle through the sliding door on the side.
My neighbor has mobility issues and is unable to step up very high. I happened to notice she was taking a long time to get into the vehicle while I was looking out the window, but I didn’t think anything of it. I headed back down stairs to my office to grab my water bottle for a refill.
When I came back up, my neighbor was sitting on the ground next to curb. The cab driver was talking to her, then making calls on his mobile phone, getting back in the driver seat… all while looking annoyed with Betty. I watched for a bit, trying to determine what had happened. I assumed he had called 911 to get an ambulance. Nope. He apparently called another taxi with a lower entry threshold for her… and then left. WITH MY ELDERY NEIGHBOR SITTING IN THE GUTTER.
I went out to ask her what had happened and find out if she was injured. She said she had fallen after trying unsuccessfully to step up into the taxi. After a few minutes I asked her if she wanted some help up off the ground. She let me attempt to help her up but was unable to stand. Eventually she mentioned she had hit her head when she fell. I decided not to try to lift her up after she told me about the potential head injury.
Luckily, another neighbor came home and came over when I asked for his assistance. Although my elderly neighbor appeared lucid we were hesitant try to move her again. We discussed calling an ambulance for her when another neighbor walked by and asked what had happened. It turns out this neighbor was a nurse so she started asking questions to determine if Betty had a concussion or had broken a hip. The nurse was happy that it did not appear she was injured badly or concussed, so we decided to help her into my other neighbor’s car so he could take her to her medical appointment to let them assess her condition further, and probably get her an ambulance. She would never been able to get into the high front seat of my truck so I was happy the neighbor with a Subaru showed up when he did. I am also thankful that the young lady nurse was walking her dog on our block, too. It really does take a village.
What has me annoyed and angry is that the taxi driver decided it was acceptable to leave Betty sitting in the gutter to await another cab’s arrival. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? Was he so self-centered and lacking in common sense that he thought this was okay?
I don’t use taxis anymore in lieu of ride share services, but I want to put it out there that Denver Yellow Cab employs this despicable piece of filth. He left a potentially injured elderly woman sitting on the ground, alone. Betty is somebody’s mother and grandmother. She deserved to be treated better than garbage in the street.