A College Park mother is taking Grady Health System to court with a multi-million-dollar lawsuit, claiming the hospital’s emergency response failures helped lead to the death of her 15-year-old daughter. The case stems from a December 2024 incident in which first responders say a requested Grady ambulance never arrived at a local recreation center where the teen collapsed.
What the lawsuit alleges
The complaint, filed this week, accuses Grady of negligence in how it handled the emergency call and argues that the delay in ambulance service contributed to the teen’s death, according to 95.5 WSB. Attorneys for the family contend Grady failed to alert local officials that its EMS units were unavailable and did not reach out to outside emergency providers as they say Georgia law requires. The lawsuit seeks unspecified multi-million-dollar damages on behalf of the girl’s mother.
How the emergency unfolded
The teen, identified as Amanda "Mandy" Sylvester, collapsed during volleyball warmups at the Tracey Wyatt Recreation Center in early December, and College Park Fire Rescue crews responded quickly after 911 calls, per FOX 5 Atlanta. Emergency crews told reporters that Mandy was initially conscious and able to speak, but no Grady EMS unit ever appeared at the scene. After roughly 45 minutes of waiting, staff used a rolling chair to move her to her mother’s car, and her mother drove her to the hospital. Mandy went into cardiac arrest after arriving there and was later pronounced dead, local reporting found.
Family reaction and legal team
Mandy’s mother, Barbara Sylvester, told reporters she felt misled by a system that promotes life-saving care, saying, "I would give anything for my child to be on one of those billboards," according to 95.5 WSB. The family’s attorneys argue that the lack of an ambulance response and the alleged failure to seek outside help broke state protocols and led to a deadly delay. The suit targets Grady Health System and seeks damages connected to the teen’s death.
Grady's response and what's next
Grady has previously said the initial 911 call was classified as low acuity and that limited information from the College Park communications center influenced its dispatch decisions, per FOX 5 Atlanta. College Park officials have pointed to wider EMS capacity problems in the region, calling it "a longstanding problem south of I-20," according to a city spokesperson. FOX 5 reported that the family had earlier retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump to assist in examining the case. Investigators say the Fulton County Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death, and the lawsuit now pushes the dispute into civil court.
Legal claims
The complaint alleges negligence and failures to follow standard EMS protocols, and seeks to hold Grady financially responsible for what the family characterizes as a preventable death. If the case advances, attorneys are expected to zero in on depositions and internal dispatch records to see whether the hospital complied with statutory duties and its own procedures. By filing suit, the family has put those questions in the public spotlight and may fuel broader policy talks about how hospital-based EMS units coordinate with city and county dispatch centers.
