Dad wants to thank firefighters who saved daughter crushed by Green Line train
BOSTON -- Early Saturday morning, Andrew Harlow got the kind of phone call that every parent dreads.
"Uh, your daughter has been hit by a train," Harlow said.
His 20-year-old daughter, Ava Harlow, was visiting friends in Boston when she got off a Green Line trolley at the BU Central Station, Friday night. MBTA police said Ava knocked on the window of the departing train to tell more friends to get off when, somehow, she lost her balance and fell under the moving train.
Boston firefighters performed a technical rescue and Ava was sent to Brigham and Women's Hospital in critical condition.
"Ava was intubated on about seven different medications at the intensive care unit and it was still dicey as to whether she could live," Harlow said.
Now, the Amesbury woman is no longer listed in critical condition, but she has a grueling road to recovery. One of her legs was amputated below the knee. Her other leg was broken. Ava also has stitches in her face, a fractured skull, a broken arm, and a crushed pelvis.
Andrew Harlow said his daughter wants to thank the firefighters who rescued her. He too wants to thank them for saving Ava.
"I want to know who the guy was who tied her tourniquet. I want to know who it was that resuscitated her the first time, then the second time," Harlow said, "I'm just grateful to the guys."
WBZ-TV has been in touch with the Boston Fire Department and the firefighters plan to meet with Ava and her family soon.
Ava is a Bridgewater State University student. Her father said she is studying law enforcement.