Denver Jury Awards $2.45 Million After Ambulance Driver Fails to Secure Elderly Resident's Wheelchair

In late February 2020, Mary Herbka, an 81-year-old nursing home resident, was being transported back from a medical appointment by Metro Care Ambulance when the driver applied the brakes suddenly. The restraint system holding her wheelchair had not been properly fastened. She slid out from underneath it and was forced against the metal barrier dividing the passenger compartment from the driver's cab, her left leg bent at a severe angle.

The driver recognized something had gone wrong but kept driving rather than pulling over to call 911. Herbka was eventually rushed to a hospital, where she underwent surgery the following day. Surgeons inserted rods to stabilize a displaced fracture of her left tibia and fibula. Her right leg was already non-functional due to a pre-existing disability, meaning the injury eliminated essentially all of her remaining mobility.

Before the crash, Herbka could maneuver her wheelchair independently around her nursing home facility and manage basic daily functions on her own. After surgery, she required a mechanical lift to transfer in and out of bed, could no longer stabilize herself during transfers, and became bedbound. The loss extended to intimate daily routines she had managed independently before.

Dan Caplis Law filed suit by the end of March 2020. Because of Herbka's age, the Denver District Court granted an expedited trial schedule. The case went to a jury in October 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Herbka testified remotely, appearing on a screen in the courtroom.

Metro Care admitted liability but contested the severity and scope of the plaintiff's injuries, arguing she had failed to mitigate her damages and had not followed her treating physicians' recommendations. The defense team represented by Jacquelyn Booker and Sara Randel of Sutton Booker made these disputed damages the centerpiece of their case.

The jury sided with the plaintiff. On October 15, 2020, jurors sitting in front of Judge Kandace Gerdes in Denver's 2nd District Court returned a verdict of $2,455,273.36: $155,273.36 in economic losses, $1.1 million in non-economic losses, and $1.2 million for physical impairment. Dan Caplis, Michael Kane, and Michael Annerino of Dan Caplis Law tried the case for the plaintiff. No appellate reduction has been reported.