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On behalf of my mother, she is 87 years old, calls for a cab, the cab company has been used by her many times before w/o On behalf of my mother, she is 87 years old, calls for a cab, the cab company has been used by her many times before w/o incident, this eve she is picked up by a Large Van not a car, the driver does not offer help, this is an over 55 community (the cab company knows this because they are used by many residents there) and my mother is not fully mobile, has trouble walking and using steps or stairs, and does not have much hand/arm strength. She has to walk around the van because the driver has the entry door on the drive way or street side and not on the curb side, she can not open the sliding van door so she asks for help from the driver, then she tells him it is too high, so he gets a stool and put it by the door. In attempting entry on her own slipped on the stool hit the side of the metal truck step and severely cut or scalped the skin on the lower shin area of the left leg. Bleeding badly (she is diabetic and takes cumodine for heart issues), she could not go anywhere, she went back to her apartment without help, driver did ask if she could make it to the door, some of her neighbors where out side and saw what happened so they advised my mother to call EMS because she was bleeding so bad. She called 911 and was transported to the hospital, treated for about 5 hours, could not stitch wound because so much skin was gone, cleaned it, dressed it and told her what she should do at home (clean and change dressing 3 times a day). Three weeks later its still has not fully healed, but is getting better, claims her doctor. She has worried much about this wound, lower leg and being diabetic has caused her to stress a great deal. The blood stained a pair of walking shoes and white pants, after cleaning are useable but not suitable, she has not had any out of pocket expense ,because she has medicare/medicade, also has a home care nurse keeping an eye on the wound weekly and has been to her primary care MD for checks as well. Is there a case here for some recovery of damages, time expended and mental stress and worry?
Already Tried: State of Michigan, Macomb county, Suburban Cab Co have not done anything yet, have a letter rea, basically its a report on what happened, did not send it yet though. I know the cab company knows there was a problem or incident with my mother.'
Well, you might be able to recover some funds for the actual injury and any cost expended there, including pain and suffering and the damage to the clothing, but it probably would not be worth it. Any action you would file (based on the facts you describe) would sound in Tort and essentially be a negligence action. You would essentially be saying that the cab company was negligent in the way it tried to help her into the vehcile. This might be a difficult issue. You would have to prove what they did was wrong - I mean actually prove why she slipped off the stool. If she has difficulty moving they might be able to counter with an assumption of the risk argument (she could see it was a van and tried anyway) and that she slipped due to her own negligence. Plus, at 87, it might not be worth the stress for what might be a minimal recovery. You wouldn't be able to recover for mental stress and worry. I'm sorry this happened, but I just don't see a case worthy of putting her through it. I hope this helps. DCG
Attorney
JD with Distinction, Admitted to practice in California