Mother Says Butler Area Rural Transit Is Responsible For Daughter's Injuries After Wheelchair Fell

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BUTLER (KDKA) -- A Butler County woman says a local transit company is responsible for her daughter's injuries.

"I will never use them again. That was the last straw," Beverly Carr said.

She's talking about Butler Area Rural Transit, or BART, and the accident involving her daughter.

It was around 7 a.m. Tuesday. Twenty-two-year-old Amber McCreary, who has a brain malformation and cannot speak, had been strapped in her wheelchair and rolled out to a waiting BART van by her father. She was put on the wheelchair lift. As he walked away, he heard the driver scream.

Amber's wheelchair was on the ground with her in it.

"She was bleeding from the face. There was a lot of blood, because it was the face, and we weren't really sure because she can't speak, so we didn't know what hurt," Carr said. "She has a metal rod in her back because she has scoliosis, so we didn't know if those shifted from the fall."

Carr says the driver never called 911, calling the transit company instead. Carr says the transit company has not addressed the accident.

KDKA-TV's Brenda Waters went to the office and was told they had no comment.

Thankfully, Amber had no serious injuries but her mother says her wheelchair sure did.

"Amber has a $20,000 wheelchair that was involved in the accident, and she just got it last year and it was specially made for her," Carr said, "and it has been destroyed from the fall. I really want that replaced. We have been in contact with an attorney on Amber's behalf."

Carr says twice before, there was a problem with BART, claiming the company once left Amber sitting outside Austin's Place, a facility for young adults with disabilities.

She says a second time, a company van was involved in an accident. Amber was taken to the hospital and Carr found out about it on social media.

The family has used BART for almost a year, but no longer. Amber is now being transported by Butler EMS or her parents.