In Statele Unite a shocking case occurred, where a 5-year-old boy witnessed his mother dying after calling the emergency number 911 twice, requesting an ambulance.
The boy called 911 and said, “My mom passed out”
Each time, Robert Turner was met with hesitation and refusal from the operator, who believed that the boy was playing a prank. Furthermore, she even threatened the boy with the police, suspecting that he was abusing the emergency service.
The incident took place in February 2006, when Sherill Turner, a 46-year-old woman with cardiac conditions, collapsed in front of her son.
The boy immediately grabbed the phone and asked for help. “My mom passed out,” Robert told the operator on the other end of the line. She doubted whether the boy was being serious, so she asked to speak to his father. However, the boy misunderstood and thought the woman was asking for his mother on the phone. “She won’t talk,” Robert explained.
The operator scolded the boy, threatening to send the police to his house and create problems for him. However, neither the police nor the ambulance were dispatched to the location.
Operator to victim’s son: “You shouldn’t play on the phone”
While waiting, the boy stayed by his mother’s side, witnessing her death. Three hours later, Robert made another call to 911, requesting help once again.
This action infuriated the operator, who decided to send a police team to talk to the boy’s mother.
“Okay, fine, you know what, then she’s going to talk to the police, okay? She’s going to talk to the police because I’m sending them over there. I don’t care, you shouldn’t play on the phone. Now put her on the phone before I send the police to knock on your door and cause you problems,” the woman said, according to Observator.
The operator received a suspended sentence
At around 9:40 PM, an officer arrived at the boy’s home and found him curled up next to his mother’s corpse. The boy was placed in the care of his relatives, and Sharon Nichols, the 911 operator, was charged with manslaughter.
Robert Turner’s testimony had a significant impact during the trial, leading the court to find the operator guilty of negligence and order her to pay one million dollars in damages. However, the woman received a suspended sentence.
