A woman who was trapped between the train and the subway platform in Boston last week asked her fellow passengers not to call the ambulance because she fears she could not afford it.
Accident At The Train Station
The woman was trying to get off the train when her foot landed in the gap between the door of the train and the platform, causing her leg to slip through and leaving her stuck.
Video of the incident showed a crowd of commuters coming to her aide, trying to pull her out or pushing the train up so that the woman's leg could be taken out of the gap.
The woman was eventually freed but her leg was deeply injured. She had a bad cut on the left thigh, which police said was deep enough to expose the bone.
Boston Globe reporter Maria Cramer, who witnessed the incident, described the woman's leg as bloody and twisted. Skin came off and she was weeping in agony.
Marleny Polanco, a commuter who was on her way home from work when the incident happened, also said that the woman was evidently in a lot of pain.
Woman Did Not Want Anyone To Call An Ambulance
Despite her condition, the woman did not want anyone to call an ambulance saying she could not afford its cost.
"She made it a point to say 'you don't understand, I have terrible insurance,'" Polanco said.
The woman, however, had to give in and agreed to ride in the ambulance when the Emergency Medical Technicians arrived. The woman was taken to Boston Medical Center.
Cost Of Ambulance Rides
Ambulance cost varies but news reports have stories of ambulances that cost $2,700 for a 2-mile ride to $3,660 four-mile trip.
Jim Hooley, chief of Boston EMS, said that an ambulance transporting people within the city would normally cost between $1,200 to $1,900 for people with the most pressing needs.
A 2012 federal investigation revealed that the average cost of an ambulance ride was between $224 and $2,204.
"The median cost per transport for the providers in GAO's sample was $429, ranging from $224 to $2,204 per transport," the U.S Government Accountability Office reported.
The incident has prompted the New York Times to write an editorial about the state of healthcare in the United States. A study released in March showed that the United States spends nearly 55 percent more than other wealthy nations on healthcare but Americans are in worse health.
