One bystander finally did stop to help Jolene Waldref, but it was too late
A Wisconsin woman was heading home from work earlier this month when she slipped on a stretch of ice, hit her head on a fence, and fell unconscious.
But even as Jolene Waldref, 49, lay facedown along the sidewalk near a busy Milwaukee intersection, numerous drivers allegedly passed her without calling 911, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Surveillance footage also showed at least one pedestrian stepping over Waldref’s body but failing to intervene, according to local station WISN .
Later, a different passerby, Charlotte Morris, spotted Waldref in the snow and immediately stopped to help.
But by then, it was too late. Paramedics arrived at around 5:45 p.m. but weren’t able to revive Waldref. They said they believe she ultimately died of hypothermia, as temperatures dipped to around minus-2 that evening.
“So many cars are coming through this intersection — nobody didn’t want to stop,” Morris told WISN. “I understand it’s cold, but they could have stopped — you know, we probably could have helped her.”
“That night I cried because nobody should be left out in the cold like that,” she added.