Kelly Marshall

Review of Maggie's Paratransit Corporati...

I am an Access-a-Ride customer who has Multiple Sc...

I am an Access-a-Ride customer who has Multiple Sclerosis among other conditions. Yesterday I was picked up at Hospital for Special Surgery at 4pm. Just around the block, there was another customer being picked up at 4:30. The driver locked me in the van for 7 minutes with no ventilation in 93 degree heat while he went inside to see if the next customer was ready! Excessive heat is very bad for MS and can trigger symptoms in a very short period of time. I told him I was becoming ill and his response was to open 2 tiny windows and the door of the van. I asked for air conditioning and he said he wasn't allowed to idle the van. I explained my condition and told him I was feeling very sick and he refused to provide any help or relief by cooking the van. We sat for a total of 25 minutes in 93 degree heat WAITING! I called Maggie's when I got home to complain and was told by the person I spoke to that it is Access-a-Rides problem because they scheduled the rides 1/2 an hour apart! You don't even lock a DOG inside a vehicle in heat like that! But it is OK to lock a person with a medical condition up in a hot vehicle?? I am still sick today from what happened and appalled that I was treated this way!