Woman in a diabetic coma 'was thrown off bus'

Published on 09/05/2006 11:48

A FINANCE worker claims she was thrown off a Lothian bus miles from home after falling into a diabetic coma.

Caroline Gallagher, 34, who suffers from Type 1 diabetes, said she was left stranded and completely disorientated at Captain's Road in Gracemount.

The investment dealer stumbled on and off the pavement until she was spotted by an ambulance driver, who treated her.

The Leith woman believes the bus driver, who shook her to wake her and tell her it was the last stop, assumed she was drunk.

Now Mrs Gallagher has written a complaint to Lothian Buses, accusing the company of not looking after their passengers.

Mrs Gallagher boarded the number 11 on Princes Street at around 8.30pm on Friday, April 28, after going for a non-alcoholic drink after work.

She said she must have fallen unconscious because the next thing she remembered was being shaken by the bus driver who shouted at her to get off because it was the last stop.

She said: "He started shouting at me 'Where do you want to go?' and threw me off the bus in what to me was the middle of nowhere.

"It was rather frightening. I wasn't in a fit state to argue as I was barely able to stand. He must have thought I was drunk but to abandon a single female in obvious distress is frankly abominable."

The ambulance driver gave Mrs Gallagher some sugar and sat with her until she came round enough to use her mobile to phone a taxi. to take her home.

A spokesman for Lothian Buses said "We are carrying out a full investigation into this matter."