The family of a 95-year old wheelchair-bound woman who died after allegedly hitting her head during a taxi ride is now suing the unnamed driver as well as the St. Thomas Taxi Association.
According to court documents, Natividad Molina was on a cruise with family members when they docked in St. Thomas in April 2024. According to the civil complaint, they were on their way back to the ship when the taxi driver, identified only as John Doe in the lawsuit, “began to drive erratically, speeding and braking hard.”
The van’s movement reportedly caused Ms. Molina, sitting in her wheelchair, to fall backwards. The elderly woman’s head reportedly struck a metal bar that formed part of the taxi van’s structure.
The driver reportedly stopped the vehicle in the middle of traffic to pick up Ms. Molina and her wheelchair and set her back upright. The process reportedly took long enough that traffic began backing up and a VIPD officer stopped to inquire why the taxi driver was blocking the road.
When the family got back to the ship, they reportedly took Ms. Molina to the on-board medical team, who immediately referred them to the emergency room of the Schneider Regional Medical Center. There, the lawsuit said, the elderly woman was diagnosed with subdural hematoma – a condition where blood collects between the skull and the surface of the brain, usually caused by a head injury. She died days later, which the lawsuit attributes to “acute trauma to the head resulting in massive left subdural hematoma.”
Ms. Molina’s family claims that her death is a direct result of the taxi driver’s negligent actions. As such, they are seeking to hold him and the St. Thomas Taxi Association liable for the “pecuniary loss, mental anguish, emotional pain and suffering” of her two children.
As of press time, there has been no legal response from the St. Thomas Taxi Association.
British Caribbean News
