The parents of a 15-year-old who died after collapsing at volleyball practice this month say their daughter might still be alive had first responders taken her to the hospital.
At a news conference Thursday, Amanda Sylvester’s parents appeared alongside a team of attorneys and demanded to know what went wrong.
Sylvester died Dec. 5 after falling to the court during warmups at a College Park recreational center, city officials said. Bystanders dialed 911 and EMT crews arrived within “moments” to help the teenager, but she was never put in an ambulance.
As Sylvester’s loved ones struggle to piece together what happened, first responders from Grady EMS and the city of College Park seem to blame each other.
Officials said Sylvester was alert and talking when the EMT crew arrived at the Tracy Wyatt Recreation Complex. The teen’s mother said Thursday that she then waited with her daughter more than 30 minutes for an ambulance before taking matters into her own hands.
Staff members from the recreation center and some of the girl’s teammates eventually loaded Sylvester into her mother’s van, the family said.
Barbara Sylvester said she rushed to the hospital in evening traffic, but Amanda’s heart stopped moments after she arrived. The high school sophomore was revived at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Hughes Spalding, but she died about an hour later.
“I was honestly flabbergasted,” Barbara Sylvester told reporters. “I thought when you called for help, help came.”
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Amanda’s memorial service was held Wednesday. The youngest of four siblings, she had straight A’s at Southwest DeKalb High School and was in the school’s High Achievers Magnet Program, according to her obituary. She loved science and planned on a career in marine biology.
“It appears that there were mistakes from the very start,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump said of her death. “To call 911 with a medical emergency of a child and for an ambulance not to show up for almost an hour? That is horrifying to every parent.”
The family is still waiting on the teen’s autopsy results and an official cause of death, attorney Liza Park told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They are also considering having an independent autopsy conducted.
Park said Amanda played on Southwest DeKalb’s volleyball team but was practicing with her College Park-based travel team when she collapsed at practice.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Grady EMS said that based on information received from College Park’s communications center, Amanda’s condition didn’t appear to be life-threatening at first.
“The call was categorized as low acuity, meaning the reported symptoms or conditions did not initially suggest an immediate life-threatening emergency that would require the immediate dispatch of an ambulance,” Grady said in a statement.
Grady seemed to place the responsibility on the College Park Fire Rescue unit that was first on scene. That unit was equipped with two advanced EMTs, Grady said, and can provide medical care and transport patients to the hospital in a life-threatening situation.
Grady did dispatch an ambulance following a second 911 call, but a spokesperson said that ambulance was canceled after Sylvester’s mother put her daughter in the car and left for the hospital.
College Park said in a statement that Grady EMS “never fully responded to the call,” and that the transport request was not canceled.
“We are still attempting to determine why an ambulance did not arrive on the scene to provide additional trauma care and transport,” the statement said. “Our deepest and heartfelt sympathies go out to the young woman’s family, friends and teammates.”
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