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First Blizzard Suit: Victim's Family Sues City For $20 Million
By
Jaya Saxena
Published Jan 19, 2011
Modified Jan 19, 2011
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By
Jaya Saxena
Published Jan 19, 2011
Modified Jan 19, 2011
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The family of a 75-year-old Corona woman who died of a heart attack on December 27th is suing the city for $20 million, claiming Yvonne Freeman could have survived if the ambulance hadn't taken three hours in the storm to get to their house. Freeman's daughter, Lauren, told the Daily News, "She never had a chance. I felt so helpless. I can't believe they wouldn't plow the streets. The city can't let this happen again."
Lawyer Sanford Rubenstein will notify the city of plans to sue, which would be the first wrongful-death suit to come out of December's blizzard. Lauren Freeman says she was unable to reach an emergency operator for about 45 minutes; emergency operators said they had a backlog of over 1,000 calls, some of them pranks or non-emergencies. Medics allegedly told Freeman, "We're so sorry we've never seen anything like this," once they arrived, but by that point it was too late. A city spokeswoman says, "The case involves a very tragic situation and we'll await the legal papers."
Tagged
blizzageddon
blizzard 2010
emergency response
EMS
yvonne freeman
Jaya Saxena
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