Family frustrated after son waits hours for help at scene of car crash

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A woman says her son waited on a stretcher for almost three hours after first responders said there weren’t enough ambulances to take those injured in a Friday night crash.

One was transported by a fire truck. The car accident happened around 5:57 p.m. on Deans Bridge Road and Richmond Hill West.

We talked to the family about the frustration they felt while waiting for help. Teresa Fluellen’s son Julius Morris may feel better, but her emotions do not.

“I’m hurt because they’re not responding. This could happen to anybody. Not just my child,” she said.

A four-car pileup left her son in and out of consciousness and his friend also on the sidewalk.

Morris said: “South Star showed up and came and picked me up as we set. When they did pick me up, we still sat there for about an hour before they took me on down the road.”

Gold Cross took over South Star in 2021. Fluellen says when she arrived all she saw was Morris and his friend Raheem Carter on the ground.

“When I got there, the police was gone. The fire truck was in the parking lot. I was just really upset because he had been they had been laying there so long,” she said.

Morris says when he came to he was freezing.

“When I did come to they had me strapped on that board. I was cold. My wife came and she covered us up with blankets,” he said.

As a father himself, his mind goes straight to the ‘what ifs’.

“If my injury was worse. I could have been paralyzed or died. I don’t know what could have happened,” he said.

Carter says it’s beyond time for a backup plan, the time is now.

“Anything can happen where they need assistance. If Gold Cross not answering, anything can transpire from then to later on. We need to try to see what we need to do to get some type of ambulance service in our region,” he said.

We reached out to Gold Cross for a comment, but they said they could not comment on the specific case due to HIPAA. We asked for a comment about wait times, and the CEO said they did not have time to speak with us until Friday.

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