Crystal Galloway had recently graduated college and given birth to her third baby, a son named Jacob Aiden. The young mother had her entire life ahead of her, but sadly all that was stolen in a series of events that began in the early morning hours of July 4.
That night, Crystal’s mother, Nicole Black, found her daughter lying unconscious in the bathtub.
With Nicole’s prodding, Crystal quickly regained consciousness but it was clear something wasn’t right. “Mommy, my head” Crystal complained to her mother before Nicole finally decided they should probably call an ambulance. Her daughter had only given birth to Jacob six days earlier, and Nicole didn’t want to risk anything serious being wrong.
Nicole called 911 and requested an ambulance for her daughter.
Unbeknownst to the family, the operator who had taken the call had coded it as a possible stroke. When paramedics arrived on the scene, the medics neglected to take Crystal’s vitals and began questioning the women about whether they’d be able to afford the $600 ambulance ride.
Nicole claims the medics suggested Crystal had been drinking and seemed more concerned with stereotyping the family than with providing medical help.
In an interview with Tampa Bay Times, she said:
“My daughter begged for her life.”
“The only thing they were worried about was my daughter had a new baby and she couldn’t afford an ambulance.”
“They never asked us if we had insurance, which we do,” she later told ABC Action News.
Nicole says she argued with the paramedics for 10 minutes before finally giving up and driving her daughter to the hospital herself.
Of course, that’s not what the paramedics claimed happened. They claim that when they got to the apartment, Nicole insisted on driving Crystal herself. They also said that when they got there, Crystal seemed completely fine.
“If the daughter presented that she was critical, I’m certain our crew would have highly advised that the daughter be transported by EMS,” said Lt. John Morris.
When the two women arrived at the hospital, doctors detected a bleed in Crystal’s brain— and the young mother passed away five days later.
Since Crystal’s death, Nicole has gone to the media about how she was treated by the paramedics.
After an investigation that took place today (July 31), the emergency respondents were suspended. Despite their claims about what happened, a few things didn’t add up.
For example, medics should always check vitals when they’re dealing with a possible stroke (as the operator had coded the call), regardless of whether they bring the person to the hospital. Despite this fact, Crystal’s vitals weren’t measured at all.
In addition to this, the medics didn’t obtain signed paperwork which is required when a caller refuses ambulance transportation— and, shadiest of all, they submitted paperwork that claimed they couldn’t find Crystal when they responded to the call.
“She passed away before her baby’s umbilical cord dropped off,” Nicole cried in an interview with ABC Action News. “She’s 30 years old and just graduated from college. She had her whole life ahead of her.”
“You can tell me you’re sorry, you can give me your condolences, but you still have to work this out with God.”
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