Woman Put In Coma After Flying Out Of Port Authority Bus Door

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A Port Authority bus, the 22 McCoy last Friday, turned the corner from Stanwix Street and Ft. Duquesne Boulevard and 38-year-old Melissa Mauk flew out the rear door.

"Say a prayer for her," her fiancé Robert Goode said. "Say a prayer for Melissa."

KDKA's Rick Dayton Reports:

Goode says his fiancé has been in a medically induced coma in the ICU at UPMC Mercy since the accident. Her injuries are severe.

"There is bruising in her brain, in the frontal lobe," he said. "There was bleeding massively in her frontal lobe. Her nose is broken."

And Goode says doctors have already determined when she comes out of the coma, she will have speech and comprehension difficulties.

Goode says Melissa rides the 22 McCoy all the time. Usually she sits in the same area on the bus and can't understand how someone just falls out of a bus.

"For something like this to happen, the door must have been faulty at the time," he said.

In a written statement, the Port Authority said:

"Port Authority is deeply concerned about the passenger who fell from our vehicle and is taking steps to identify the cause of the accident. It's clear that a lock mechanism in the doorway failed and we're investigating why that occurred."

"I would like to know exactly how this happened and I would like to hear the truth," said Goode.

KDKA's Lynne Hayes-Freeland Reports:

Goode says he's frustrated too that the Port Authority hasn't been in touch with Melissa's family since the accident, but the Port Authority says it checks on her condition daily and are waiting until she is out of the ICU to make contact.

"She is not a Jane Doe and she needs your prayers," Goode said. "And she needs Port Authority to come clean and explain to her parents."

Mauk is scheduled to come out of her medically induced coma on Wednesday.

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