Missing deaf and mute woman found after living on NYC subway for weeks
A missing deaf and mute woman has been found by her family after living on the New York City subway system for three weeks.
Samantha Primus was located by her sister Ghislaine Primus at Manhattan’s Bowling Green station after being tipped off that she was riding the 1 train, according to The New York Post.
The family say that Ms Primus, who is also autistic, had lost 10 pounds, was dehydrated and had swollen feet after her ordeal.
“She was wearing slippers and a pair of socks in … this cold, and she survived jumping from train to train, looking and hoping that she was going to get home. And we found her,” her sister said.
The 46-year-old is now being treated at Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn and the family says it is considering legal action against the Queens Hospital Center, which they claim prematurely discharged her into freezing temperatures.
Ms Prime first went missing on 23 December when she left her sister, Joanna Peck Elmont’s home to go back to her mother’s Brooklyn house.
She was found later that evening by a passerby laying on the ground in Queens in 18F Degree weather.
First responders took her to Queens Hospital Center, but her family say that staff there let her leave in the early hours with just a list of homeless shelters.
“If they had done their duty, my sister would not have gone through these horrendous three weeks in the cold. An apology will never be enough. We wonder what hearts and heads work at this hospital,” her sister Sophia Primus said.
A lawyer for the family, Sanford Rubenstein, called the hospital’s actions “not only negligent but heartless.”
“The city has to be held accountable for the actions of those who work for them in their hospitals,” he said.
New York City Health & Hospitals, which runs Queens Hospital Center, told the newspaper that HIPAA regulations prevented them from discussing a patient’s care without their consent.
The Independent has reached out to New York City Health & Hospitals for comment.
