Cabdriver abandons dialysis patient, 81, after argument

[okarol]

South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Cabdriver abandons dialysis patient, 81, after argument
Sheriff's spokesman: Taxi company broke no laws

Kate Santich
Sentinel Staff Writer

June 26, 2009

Charles Brucks is 81 and uses a walker. He has failing kidneys, a bad heart and a degenerative spine disorder that has left him stooped and a bit wobbly at times.

A week ago, on one of the hottest days of the year, the World War II veteran got into a disagreement with a cabby who was driving him from a dialysis clinic to his east Orange County home, about a mile away, over how long it had taken the driver to arrive. "Admit it," Brucks said. "You [messed] up."

Only he used a curse word instead.

At that point, both sides agree, the Yellow Cab driver said he didn't have to be treated like that, stopped the cab and ordered Brucks out.

Brucks said he took a step, stumbled and fell. The driver, he said, took the old man's walker from the trunk, tossed it several yards away and drove off -- leaving Brucks lying by the side of East State Road 50 near Alafaya Trail with no shade or water.

The driver later told his boss that Brucks was standing with his walker when he left -- though a passer-by would find him a half-hour later crumpled on the ground, the walker out of reach.

The temperature was officially recorded as 97 degrees, and the heat index was between 105 and 110.

"I could have died out there," said Brucks, who landed on a sidewalk near a construction area.

Advocates for the elderly are outraged by the incident, but a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Office said no laws were broken.

"It may not have been very nice, but there's nothing criminal about it," said public information officer Jeff Williamson.

Mears Transportation, which owns Yellow Cab, has a policy of following an Orlando ordinance that says a taxi driver may end a trip early "if the driver has reason to believe the passenger(s) may cause bodily injury to him/her, or the passengers become unruly, rowdy or cause physical damage to the vehicle or the driver."

The driver, whom Mears would not identify, is an independent contractor. Mears spokesman Roger Chapin said there have been no other complaints against the driver during the two years he has worked for the company. On this trip, Chapin said, the driver called Dispatch to report that his passenger was "belligerent" and "verbally abusive" and using profanity.

"Clearly, what got lost in all the calls is that the gentleman was 81 and had a walker," Chapin said. "It's unfortunate. ... But at what age or state of mind is it OK to be verbally abusive to a cabdriver?"

The driver, who is black, later told Chapin that Brucks used the N-word -- a claim that Brucks vigorously denied.

Brucks points out that his former son-in-law and grandson are black, and there are numerous pictures of the grandson in Brucks' condominium.

"No way," Brucks said. "If I was going to call him something, I'd have called him something else, but not that."

Chapin said Mears sent a second taxi to pick up Brucks but that the second driver couldn't find him. Instead, an off-duty mail carrier, Randall Powell, spotted Brucks on the ground and stopped.

The trouble began when Brucks had to wait for an hour and 10 minutes after the dialysis clinic called him a cab that afternoon. He'd already spent nearly four hours in dialysis and desperately wanted to go home and go to bed. Though he usually is able to drive himself to dialysis three times a week, he takes taxis when he is feeling particularly bad. He said there had never been a problem before June 20.

First the driver had trouble finding the address; then he had trouble finding Brucks, Chapin said. A dispatcher called the clinic but couldn't get anyone to answer, he added.

Brucks acknowledges that he was ticked off by the time he finally got in the cab, though he insists he didn't call the driver names or threaten him.

After calling Yellow Cab to complain that evening, on Monday he decided to call the sheriff's office.

"I was going to let it go," he said. "I ain't got too much time left. But I just couldn't forget about it."

The sheriff's office sent a deputy, who took a report but said there was probably nothing more that law enforcement could do.

Randy Hunt, president and CEO of the Senior Resource Alliance of Central Florida, called the incident "blatant abuse. I mean, is he [the driver] allowed to endanger the man's life?"

Mary Ellen Grant, executive director of Share the Care, a nonprofit agency that aids family caregivers, said it highlights a "huge need" in the community for adequate public transportation and special training for cabdrivers who deal with the elderly. "So the 81-year-old argued with you?" she said. "Big deal. Be a grown-up and take the high road and take him home."

But Chapin said it was a judgment call and that Mears' policy is adequate. "There is blame to go to both sides of this equation."

Kate Santich can be reached at 407-420-5503 or ksantich@orlandosentinel.com.

sun-sentinel.com/news/local/orl-dialysis-man-taxi-062609,0,2835480.story

[aharris2]

The expression "reckless endangerment" comes to mind.

[dwcrawford]

I understand why ill people and especially older ones are so irritated about everything.  Depression, fear, etc.  But for god's sake I hear patients at my dialysis facility cursing out their ambulance drives, the techs and staff for reason like you were late, you didn't come with I called, etc.  Old and sick or not, learn that a kind word will get you more than a curse word (in the long run of things).

[BigSky]

I understand why ill people and especially older ones are so irritated about everything.  Depression, fear, etc.  But for god's sake I hear patients at my dialysis facility cursing out their ambulance drives, the techs and staff for reason like you were late, you didn't come with I called, etc.  Old and sick or not, learn that a kind word will get you more than a curse word (in the long run of things).

Not to mention that most of those people have others they have to pick up and transport.  I have seen some patients seem to think they are they are the only ones the drivers have to pickup and act like when they call, the drivers should drop everything and come right then for them.

[willowtreewren]

When I read this I thought that it could so have been my father. He is just obnoxious to so many people (and comes with the walker, too!)

And then I thought that it would have served him right. Oiy. That isn't very nice on my part.

[dwcrawford]

I understand why theyy are so grumpy.  I get that way too.  But we, especially kidney folks, need to try and be a little more congenial to the rest of the world.  If we don't need them no, we will.

[MIbarra]

My father is 82. If someone did that to him, I would be hunting down the cab driver right now, regardless of what he might have said to him.

[dwcrawford]

Hehe... Age doesn't give the right to abuse service people.

[fluffy]

i always say, treat people the way you yourself want to be treated, or accept the consequences. being old dosent exuse being a jerk. he got what he deserved.

[aharris2]

While I don't deny "he got what he deserved",  in being put out of the cab, being put out of the cab at 81 years old in the 97 degree heat with his walker out of reach and freshly dialyzed (nothing left to sweat out), put him at extreme risk of dying from heat exhaustion. It is HOT here, hotter than I have seen it in a long time - I do not willingly stand in the sun. He walks with a walker, out of reach, how does he escape that heat? Explain to me why he couldn't have been put out into a better situation - shade, near a phone, with his walker.  That cab driver needs to be fired and if that is the company's policy without guidelines, the company needs to be prosecuted.

"...Mears... has a policy of following an Orlando ordinance that says a taxi driver may end a trip early "if the driver has reason to believe the passenger(s) may cause bodily injury to him/her, or the passengers become unruly, rowdy or cause physical damage to the vehicle or the driver." ...On this trip... the driver called Dispatch to report that his passenger was "belligerent" and "verbally abusive" and using profanity..."

Where exactly was the threat?

[BigSky]

By the picture posted he doesnt look at quite as helpless is he is trying to play it up as.


Hard to prosecute the driver or the company as they did not break any law. 

The whole situation was created by the passenger and he is lucky he is not prosecuted for disorderly conduct.

Also one is only suppose to have excess fluid removed, not to the point one is dehydrated and no longer can sweat out if needed.

[monrein]

I'm not at all sure how one can assess an elderly person's state of helplessness or infirmity versus strength and vigour simply by viewing a photo such as the one posted.  This is similar to all those well-meaning but hopelessly uniformed folk who tell us that we don't look ill.  There are healthy looking frail people and frail looking healthy people and these types of judgment are in my view arbitrary and unfair.

My guess is that the older man was frustrated and most likely crossed a line with his anger.  This does not justify dumping him just anywhere and certainly not in the middle of the hot sun.  Perhaps the cabbie could have called the cops to ensure the man got home safely.  I'm not justifying bad behaviour on anyone's part.  However, the cabbie's bad behaviour could have had tragic consequences while the old man's verbal misbehaviour ought to have had consequences but not inappropriate ones.  Old people and young children ought, in my view, to have just a bit more slack than the rest of us.  I don't believe in excuses but I do think that a certain amount of understanding goes a long way in the world.

[petey]

Sad situation, indeed.  The older gentleman did seem to have a series of circumstances he couldn't control that made him irritated and perhaps even frustrated.  He obviously was verbally abusive to the cab driver, and that was uncalled for.  However, for him to be basically dumped out on the street, in the heat, out of reach of his walker, after a physically exhausting dialysis treatment, with no other help in sight was, in my opinion, cruel and potentially life-threatening.

Did he deserve that?  In my opinion, absolutely not!  He's an old, frustrated, vulnerable, sick man.  Could I have done that to him?  Never in a million years -- my momma taught me better than that.  I would have taken him home and made sure he got in his house okay, no matter how many cuss words he threw at me.  To me, there are worse things than being cussed at by an old man -- like having to live with my conscience if I had thrown him out on the street to fend for himself.

[dwcrawford]

I have to agree that the cab driver was extreme in his actions, if the old grouch didn't set up the ending senario.  We will never know.  What the cab driver should have done is to turn around, take him back where he was picked up, then get him out of the cab (at no charge).  If he was at dialysis, he should have told them he was not going to drive him home anymore. 

I see that kind of attitude every day at dialysis.  People yelling at nurses, tech, ambulance drivers.  One man even cussed out the diatician because she told him he limit a certain food.  The dialysis center is not mine or yours or his.  Actually it is a corporation who's loyalty is to the stock holders, but as to mine or yours, it is for the whole body of patients.  There responsibility is not to an individual but to a whole body of individuals.

I question if you would have been so kind.  You never know how'd you feel if someone directed the f word to you.  You or I may have acted just as badly.

By the say, I too am an old frustrated man and I lose control from time to time, and that is not an excuse.  I expect that most people like that were at one time or another an obnoxious and rude young man.

[petey]

I wasn't saying that I'd excuse his behavior and verbal abuse because he's an old, sick man.  I was saying that dumping him in those conditions would have been -- to me -- worse than his cussing at me; therefore, I would have tolerated his behavior and made sure that my reaction to his cussing did not make me do something that, to me, would have been wrong.

My parents always, always instilled in me, my brother, and my sister that you have to respect your elders -- even when they are not so nice to you and even if their actions do not necessarily deserve respect.  My dad (a retired military officer) demanded respect.  He would say, "You don't have to respect the person, but you do have to respect the position they hold."  The elderly, my father believed, hold a certain position -- by age alone -- that deserves respect.  We were also taught to respect our "superiors" (boss, etc.) and, of course, respect our parents.

My parents also taught us that it's not other people's actions toward you that you will have to answer for, but rather your reactions.

I'm a high school teacher in a public school in a socio-economically depressed area of southern North Carolina.  I cannot begin to tell you the things I've been called and the things that have been said to me by teen-aged kids over the past 21 years.  I do not excuse this and do not let it go; however, I react in such a way as the student is not put in any danger and also in such a way as I can live with (and eventually answer for before God).

Above all, I wouldn't want to take a bad situation and make it worse.

[dwcrawford]

I take it all back.  I know I have no right to think anything differenctly than you,  You don't have to go to the centers for dialysis.  Having no family, I do.  And actors like (not the unknown man) some of the same kind as the old man, hurt me and every other person in the center.   We want our nurses and techs to be happy and not burn out to soon.  Yesterday my wonderful nurse was suffering from ulcer pains brought on by this time of action.  One BH gave her trouble the whole night and she kept smiling as she was taught, I suppose.   

I too have a couple of good qualities, but I don't feel it necessary to write pages and pages about them.  I'm sure you would not approve anyway.

[RichardMEL]

I think this thread is starting to spiral out of control and there is contention brewing where none needs to.

In my opinion there are two distinct issues here:

1. The taxi driver and how he handled the situation: Very Poor. Any person thinking with half a brain would see an older gentleman with a walker is no threat and so he swore in frustration. I bet the cab driver was half his age. Hiding behind the law about terminating a journey if a passenger is abusive etc is a bit weak given the passenger's age, and to just leave him on the side of the road without either offering to call the company to send another cab(if he was that offended/outraged that the pax swore at him - if he did or didn't use the N word) or perhaps take him back to his clinic (which would have been worse I am sure and just upset the pax more) given it was so hot and clearly the old man would suffer in those conditions is thoughtless and incosiderate. I think everyone can agree upon that.

2. The frustration shown by the old man that led to the problem in the first place. Like dwcrawford I see this all the time in my unit. Usually(but not always) older folks whinging if it takes the ambos an extra 30 minutes or whatever to get there.. and when they do having a go at them (given the state pays for that transport I think it's pretty good myself). Now I must add I have never had to use this system myself so have only seen it in operation. I would say 75-80% of the time they are on time which is not bad if you ask me. There are many frustrations in life, and I can DEFINITELY understand if you come off a 4 or more hour dialysis shift the LAST thing you want to do is sit around more waiting to be picked up. I have no argument with that.. HOWEVER it is a relatively small thing and it's disappointing that some(not all) people get so upset and take it out on others (like the poor ward clerk who has already called 4 times about the transport.. what more can she do??) - sometimes in a very inappropriate way.

If dialysis has taught me anything it's to not sweat the small stuff. These folks who are waiting - if they want a cup of tea or coffee the staff will happily make it for them(or they can go to the patient tea room and make their own). At least they can get up and stretch(so it's better than D) or whatever. I know if it was me I'd just be happy to be off the machine and while waiting for anything is very frustrating I'd like to think I wouldn't take it off on the unit staff or people who have no control over things (and that includes the transport company, or taxi driver or whoever when they did come).

I understand it is a difficult situation and nobody wants these folks to sit around waiting - but sometimes it is also a fact of life.

Of course there are also people that complain because that's what they "do" in life... oh the chair is unomfortable, I didn't like what the doctor said, I have to sit here for 5 hours, that guy over there is snoring too loud, I should have been put on 30 minutes ago (and so on...). I've seen and heard it all... and it's sad really.

Anyway like I said I think the issues raised here are two very different ones. There are wrongs on both counts here which led to a very unfortunate situation.. and that's sad too.

[BigSky]

The driver isnt hiding behind law enforcement.  Company policy stated the ride could also be ended if the individual becomes unruly or rowdy.

Also as stated in the article a second cab was sent out.


In the end the old guy was the one who decided to be abusive to an individual that had done no wrong to him.  It was him and him alone that caused him to have his ride stopped.

As such it is for him to suffer the consequence of his own actions.  Some blame the cab driver but I notice at no point the old guy even offered up an apology to the driver at the time in order to keep the cabbie from ending the ride.

[Hanify]

I wouldn't want to be held responsible for my actions immediately after dialysis - I usually couldn't think straight.  And anyway, I think the taxi driver needs to get over himself.  Hell, if  responded that way every time someone said the 'f' word where would I be? I mean, come on. (I am a teacher)

[Zach]

Although this discussion has had some differing opinions, here is the outcome.



http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-dialysis-man-taxi-apology-062909,0,922309.story

Dialysis patient abandoned by taxi gets apology, free rides

Mears Transportation says it's sorry driver left 81-year-old man on roadside after argument

Kate Santich
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 29, 2009

Mears Transportation has apologized to an 81-year-old dialysis patient after a Yellow Cab driver left the man beside the road on one of the hottest days of the year.

Spokesman Roger Chapin said the cabby who told Charles Brucks to get out of the cab after a disagreement has a good record and there is "no reason to doubt his version of the story." But, he added, "It shouldn't have ended the way it did."

"We just regret it ever happened," Chapin said Monday after calling Brucks over the weekend and having "a nice chat." Mears, which owns Yellow Cab, also has offered to give Brucks free taxi service to and from his three-times-a-week dialysis appointments for the rest of his life.

Brucks said he appreciated Mears' gesture and intends to use the service, starting todayTuesday. Besides needing kidney dialysis, the World War II veteran requires supplemental oxygen, has a degenerative spinal disorder, underwent heart surgery a few years ago and uses a walker and a wheelchair.

"It's getting harder and harder for me to drive to the clinic," he said. "I just hope they don't change their minds once the heat is off."

On June 20, Brucks was feeling particularly weak and decided to take a taxi rather than drive to the dialysis clinic, which is about a mile from his east Orange County home. Afterward, he waited for an hour and 10 minutes for a cab to show up, though on previous occasions when he called a taxi the wait was 15 to 20 minutes.

Brucks was angry when the driver finally arrived, and the two had a verbal clash. Halfway home, along State Road 50, the driver radioed that he had a belligerent passenger who had used profanity. "Admit it — you [messed] up," Brucks said, using a curse word.

Brucks said he fell right after getting out and that the cabby tossed his walker into some weeds, out of reach. The cabby, whom Mears won't identify, told Mears the old man was standing — with his walker — when he drove off. A passer-by found Brucks, crumpled on a hot sidewalk, about half an hour later. His walker was a few feet away.

"In retrospect," Chapin said, "given Mr. Brucks' age and medical condition, we wish the driver would have tolerated whatever was said to him and completed the trip."

Although a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Office said no law was broken, Brucks believes what happened should be illegal, and he is writing to state officials. "You can't treat an animal that way," he said, "leaving it in the sun without any water."

The temperature that day was 97 degrees.

Randy Hunt, president and CEO of the Senior Resource Alliance, said he intends to follow up with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer's Committee on Aging, which Hunt chairs, and with Orange County's Commission on Aging, of which he's a member. He said he's not sure what can be done at this point, but he wants to pursue it.

"This has just stayed with me and bothered me so much," he said.

Kate Santich can be reached at 407-420-5503 or ksantich@orlandosentinel.com.

[dwcrawford]

Wow... good thing the print media never slants anything the politically correct way.  Although, I did read an article the other day that Bernie Madoff shouldn't go to prison because of his age!  Maybe if he gets out early he'll get free taxi rides for life.  Maybe that's what Bernie was after anyway, a free ride.

[BigSky]

Nothing like crying "old" to relieve ones self from responsibility in a situation they created.

Guess that might very well be the defense of James Wenneker Von Brunn since  he is 88.

[dwcrawford]

I am not anti old.  Heck, I'm there!  I am anti abuse... from any age, etc.  Question is who was abused and who is the abuser.  We will never agree -- well, truly we'll never know but we can run scenarios in our head.  It doesn't work picturing the cab driver slinging the walker.  It works better in my head picturing the man throwing the walker in a rage of some kind. 

[petey]

It's good to see that there are still people in this world who "right a wrong" even if they feel they weren't the one who started the whole ugly scene in the first place.  I think the guy who owns the cab company did the "right" thing.

Spokesman Roger Chapin said the cabby who told Charles Brucks to get out of the cab after a disagreement has a good record and there is "no reason to doubt his version of the story." But, he added, "It shouldn't have ended the way it did."



"In retrospect," Chapin said, "given Mr. Brucks' age and medical condition, we wish the driver would have tolerated whatever was said to him and completed the trip."

And I still feel empathy for the old man and the medical situation he's now in.  Reading between the lines, he sounds angry at his fate in life and like he's lashing out at the first one who comes along.  That, to me, is sad.

[willowtreewren]

Although I think this situation could have been handled better, it is a bit harder for me to feel empathy for the old man.

If I put my father in his place I can really see the cab driver being tested to the limit of endurance. My father thinks nothing of spouting off at anybody and everybody. He lives in a really nice assisted living facility and is under threat of being kicked out.

I picked him up at the airport in the middle of the night last week. It surprised the heck out of me when he offered to call a cab, but I didn't want him to do that. The risk of his being pitched out of a cab, walker and all is too great.

My dad views service workers as subhuman and routinely curses them. They are put on earth for his benefit and have no value other than the service they can be to him. I find his behavior abhorrent. He sees nothing wrong with it. On our ride from the airport instead of saying hello to me, he immediately launched into a diatibe about someone who was on the same ship with him. I felt like saying, "If you want anyone to pick you up from the airport in the middle of the night, please refrain from hateful language." I didn't, though. I just kept on driving. I think he took the hint from my lack of any response and changed the subject to the current price of gas.

My point is, that we really don't know all the details. The entire situation can be read different ways.

I remember learning that "when we assume, we make an *ass* out of *u* and *me*"

I think that applies to this situation very well.

Just my 

Aleta