Why a woman trapped by a subway train begged not to call an ambulance

Last week, an American woman was seriously injured in a freak metro crash

After her leg slipped through the 12.7 cm gap between the platform and the train, the woman was so badly hurt.

Boston Crobe reporter Maria Cramer, who witnessed the scene at Boston Station, described the horrible injury as "twisted and bloody".

However, as spectators rushed to call an ambulance, the 45-year-old woman pleaded with them for – for a heartbreaking reason that sums up the tragic reality of daily life in the United States for many of its inhabitants, reports news.com.au.

According to Cramer, the woman sobbed while begging witnesses not to go for emergency services

"Do you know how much an ambulance costs?" "

" It's $ 3000 US ($ 4380), I can not afford it.

Cramer said that despite the fact that the woman was in "agony", she seemed more concerned about the financial impact of the treatment.

"When I saw her sitting on the platform, she was shaking, she was crying, she was in terrible pain and she was very worried about what this injury would do to her financially," she posted on Twitter [19659007].

In the space of an hour, it has been retweeted and loved hundreds of times and today, the original message has received 8300 retweets, 15,193 likes and hundreds of comments [19659002] Cramer said in a tweet later: "To say that the fate of this woman touched a nerve would be a gross understatement."

Cramer later reported on the incident in a newspaper article, where she describes how passengers came together to help In scenes reminiscent of the rescue video of the Perth train station in 2014, CCTV footage from the Transit Transit Police Department of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority showed groups of people pushing on the train to free the woman . Despite the woman's calls, an ambulance was called and the first responders bandaged the serious wound before taking her to the hospital.

Police confirmed that even though no bones had been broken, the deep laceration was in an opinion piece inspired by Cramer's tweet, The New York Times described The woman's reaction to an ambulance called "An editorial said that for many US citizens – the world's 12th richest nation, according to the latest data from the International Monetary Fund -" the need clear and urgent medical care is under pressure "(19659002). against the uncertain and potentially monumental expense of basic services, such as a bandage or transportation to the hospital.

The article explains that the United States spends "a lot more on health care than other industrialized countries" – close to 17 percent of the US gross domestic product in 2014 – and that the cost often has been passed on to patients who have struggled to afford it.

In a subsequent tweet, Cramer said that although residents of Massachusetts were required to have health insurance, the franchises According to Brian Rosman, policy director of Health Care for All, an organization that advocates Affordable and quality health care, $ 600 for individuals and $ 12,000 for families.

Rowing writes that many readers have suggested that the woman should have called an Uber instead of an ambulance to transport her to the hospital in order to reduce her expenses – a practice that is gaining popularity in the United States. United States, where average ambulance costs can range from US $ 300. But the reporter argued that given the severity of the woman's injuries, it would have been too risky to take her to an Uber without professional medical assistance.

Cramer Still Trying to Follow She said on Twitter that she had been inundated with foreign offers to help cover her medical bills.

But despite the generosity of the public, the incident reveals the sad reality of America's "ludicrous" health system – a feeling captured by countless Twitter users who responded to Cramer tweets and called for an urgent change.