Amesbury, MA, Woman Run Over by MBTA Trolley, Faces Long Recovery

Two GoFundMe pages are accepting donations to help an Amesbury college student recover from serious injuries suffered when she was hit by an MBTA trolley.

Ava Harlow, a member of the Amesbury High School Class of 2021 and current Bridgewater University sophomore, was riding the Green Line Friday night and got off the trolley at the BU Central Station, her father Andrew Harlow told CBS Boston. As Ava knocked on the window to get the attention of her friends to get off, she lost her balance and fell under the moving trolley.

Boston firefighters completed a technical rescue of Harlow, who was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital with stitches in her face, a fractured skull, a broken arm, a broken leg, and a crushed pelvis. Harlow's leg had to be amputated below the knee.

A GoFundMe spokeswoman told Seacoast Current that two accounts have been verified to help with Harlow's medical expenses, including a prosthetic leg.  One was created by friends, and another by a self-described group of "aunties."

"Ava always made everyone laugh every day at school and is a great friend that has anyone's back," the friend's page wrote.

Lawsuit Planned Against the MBTA

Andrew Harlow told the Boston Herald he blames the MBTA for the accident, and has hired an attorney.

“He could have saw that she was banging on the friggin’ side of the car and not pulled away,” Harlow told the Herald. "They have mirrors. They have horns. They’re supposed to toot the horn before they take off."

Harlow did not blame a specific member of the crew operating the trolley.

MBTA Transit Police spokesman Richard Sullivan told the Herald they are praying for her recovery.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH