Tyra Hunter
(1971 - August 7, 1995) U.S.A.
African American Transgender
Tyra (Tyrone) Hunter was a resident of Washington DC left to die following a car crash, after firefighters and physicians refused to treat her.
Upon discoving that Hunter was anatomically male, the EMS squad members stopped treating her and laughed out loud. Hunter was pronounced dead at DC General Hospital. Is this our so-called "civilized Western culture"?
The local community was outraged by reports that D.C. Fire Department emergency medical technicians, upon discovering Tyra's male genitals, used derogatory epithets, backed away, and ceased rendering emergency treatment to her.
Tyra's mother brought a wrongful death and survival action against the District of Columbia, the supervising emergency room physician, and the emergency medical technician who allegedly uttered the slurs. The court agreed that the care Ms. Hunter received was substandard and a result of prejudice, awarding over a million dollars in damages.
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