Family files wrongful death lawsuit after ambulance driver dropped patient off at wrong house
HOUSTON - A Houston family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against an ambulance/medical transportation company.
According to the lawsuit, Vernon Roberson was dropped off outside the wrong home following a dialysis treatment in August of 2020. The 67-year-old spent hours outside in a wheelchair, unable to communicate or move until a neighbor found him and called 911.
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"My family isn’t whole anymore," said Shaneshia Roberson, Vernon’s daughter. "The one person I love the most, besides my mom, is not here. How could you leave someone, who can’t help themselves, in a driveway with August heat?"
Roberson had been taken in for treatment by The Rightway Medical Transportation. After the procedure, a different driver was supposed to take Roberson home to his address numbered 233. Instead, the driver left Roberson outside a home addressed 223 along the same road.
"I saw a man in a wheelchair," said Adela Legorreta, the neighbor who dialed 9-1-1. "He had his head down. He wasn’t moving at all. They just dropped him off like nothing. They didn’t bother to call his family or anything."
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The lawsuit estimates Roberson spent hours outside the wrong home before he was found.
"If they dropped him off around maybe 4 or 4:30, we didn’t find him until almost 7 [that evening]," said Roberson. "A good couple of hours."
"He was diagnosed with septic shock," said attorney Randy Sorrels. "That septic shock, a young man only 67-years-old, really pushed Mr. Roberson over the edge."
FOX 26 contacted The Rightway Medical Transportation on Wednesday. However, they didn’t want to comment. In addition, messages sent to the ambulance driver were not responded to.
"It’s hard," said Roberson. "Our last Thanksgiving, we didn’t spend it here. We didn’t even stay in our own house because we missed him that much. I want the company to be responsible. If you didn’t have procedures in place for this, you need to reevaluate your business."