A 20-year-old college student suffered a fractured skull and part of her leg amputated below the knee when she lost her footing and became trapped under a moving train in Boston.
Ava Harlow, of Amesbury, has been treated at Brigham and Women’s Hospital since the night of the accident more than a week ago, loved ones wrote on the GoFundmePage.
According to Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) police officials, at approximately 11:30 p.m. on January 27, Harlow got off the Green Line train at Boston’s BU Central Station with a group of friends, but then was It was realized that some other companions were left in the train. The Boston Globe reported.
Harlow knocked on the window to signal his friends to get off the train and stepped in the direction the train was moving.
At that moment, Harlow somehow slipped and fell under the train, which dragged him away.
Specially trained firefighters were called to rescue the Bridgewater State University student. EMS, Boston Police and MBTA Police also responded.
Harlow’s father, Andrew Harlow, recalled the “horrendous 3 a.m. phone call that no parent wants to receive” telling him his daughter had been hit by a train.
The father cried told CBS Boston That her daughter had to be resuscitated twice before being brought to the ICU and intubated.
Ava lost part of one leg and broke the other. According to his father, he suffered a fractured skull, a crushed pelvis, a broken arm and cuts on his face that required stitches.
But despite the laundry list of injuries, Andrew Harlow said, Ava is grateful to the firefighters and paramedics who helped save her life.
“The first thing he mentioned was the boys,” he said, adding that he would like to thank the first responders who applied a tourniquet to his daughter. Made it alive.
Separately, Andrew told the Boston Herald That he blames the MBTA for the accident and that he has retained an attorney.
“He could. [seen] That she was hitting the friggin’ side of the car and wasn’t moved away,” the parent said, apparently referring to the train operator. “They have mirrors. They have horns. They must blow the horn before taking off.
The crash “does not appear to be the result of any mechanical or MBTA employee failure,” the MBTA said. The Daily News of Newburyport reported..
Meanwhile, a group of family friends calling themselves Ava’s “aunties” have started a GoFundMe campaign to help with her medical bills and living expenses.
Father Andrew is right that his daughter is grateful to the first responders who saved her life.
Ava, pictured with her parents, graduated from Amesbury High School, where she was a star basketball and field hockey player.
The 20-year-old is a college junior studying criminal justice.
Friends are raising money to help with Ava’s medical and living expenses.
“She’s hard-working, smart, funny, and has a big heart,” organizers wrote in a description of the online fundraiser, which has drawn more than $41,000 in donations so far.
A second GoFundMe page started by Ava’s high school friends has raised more than $42,000 as of Tuesday.
“Her parents, Jamie and Andrew, have to watch their only daughter go through this and we want to help make this terrible situation better in any way we can,” Ava’s childhood friends wrote.
Harlow graduated from Amesbury High School in 2021, where she was a standout basketball and field hockey player. She is enrolled as a junior at Bridgewater State University, where she studies criminal justice.
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