“This is personal. Join us in our fight for Justice for Amanda.” wrote the Dream Chasers volleyball club after Amanda Sylvester’s passing. The young player had reported for a regular day’s practice, but she could barely get through her warm-up before collapsing onto the floor. The chain of events that followed ultimately led to the untimely demise of the Atlanta resident.

Now one of the nation’s most renowned civil rights lawyers has answered the call of Amanda Sylvester’s family, club, and the College Park community. “We now represent Amanda Sylvester’s family,” Attorney Benjamin Crump wrote on December 20. The lawyer who has presented the likes of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, and others has vowed to seek justice. Yet, what went so wrong?

After the 15-year-old collapsed on the volleyball court, everyone present on the scene immediately called for emergency services. The first responders from the College Park Fire Department arrived promptly and stabilized the youngster. However, everything went wrong when the Grady EMS ambulance service took too long to respond. After waiting for nearly an hour, Sylvester’s mother took drastic action.

She put her daughter in the car and drove to the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Unfortunately, it was too late, and the doctors couldn’t save Amanda Sylvester. “When she got to the hospital, she was still living,” Benjamin Crump said during a press conference. The lawyer stressed that had Grady EMS responded on time, the teenager may have survived.

“That tells us if Emergency Rescue Services would have gotten to (Barbara’s) 15-year-old daughter, she would still be with us today.” said Crump. “This is truly heartbreaking… I mean, to call 911 with a medical emergency of a child and for an ambulance to not show up for almost an hour, that is horrifying for any parent,” added the attorney in the presence of Sylvester’s mother. The legal proceedings are yet to get underway. However, there’s no doubt that uncovering the details behind the delay will be the crux of the case.

What did Grady EMS have to say in response to the massive delay?

Although Grady EMS is an emergency service, they sort the priority of their response depending on the severity of the case. In 2023, College Park Fire Department Chief Wade Elmore explained that ambulance services often prioritize “life-threatening” cases. As reported by Atlanta News First, Grady EMS had categorized Sylvester’s case as “low acuity” after the initial call.

It remains unclear why the volleyball player’s case wasn’t prioritized. Grady EMS explained that after receiving follow-up calls, they “promptly dispatched,” a unit to the location. However, by then, Sylvester’s mother had already taken matters into her own hands. “As our unit was en route, College Park Fire determined that additional EMS support was no longer needed,” they said.

Benjamin Crump hopes to get to the bottom of what led to the miscommunication and ensuing delay. For now, the Dream Chasers are helping the family prepare for legal proceedings. They’ve started a GoFundMe for the case with a goal of $500,000. The volleyball club’s executive director, Collette Bagwell revealed they’ve already raised $17,000 for the cause. Now, only time will tell how successful Crump and his team will be in unraveling every detail of this tragic case.