Karen Sue Simpson called for an ambulance because she was having trouble breathing. She was stable when crews arrived, didn’t need oxygen, and was headed to UofL Health – Mary & Elizabeth Hospital. Instead, the ambulance crashed into a tree at Gagel Avenue and Estate Drive in southwest Louisville on Nov. 17, 2025, and two days later, the 65-year-old retired schoolteacher was dead.
Now Simpson’s family has filed a lawsuit against the Pleasure Ridge Park Fire Protection District, alleging negligence, wrongful death and other claims tied to the crash, according to WHAS11. The suit was filed Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, on behalf of Simpson’s family, with Mary Ramsey identified as Simpson’s sister, per the same outlet, which reports it spent two months investigating the crash and obtained documents related to the investigation. Simpson, who had ALS, was initially in stable condition when she was picked up, and the crash caused catastrophic damage to the ambulance and its occupants before she was transported to University of Louisville Hospital, where she died two days later.
Police determined, per the coroner’s report, that the ambulance went off the road and struck the tree after the driver swerved to avoid a deer. A coroner’s report identified Simpson’s cause of death as blunt force injuries from a motor vehicle collision, ruled the manner of death an accident, and listed her ALS symptoms as a complicating factor. A Louisville Metro Police spokesperson said in January that no criminal charges were expected in connection with the crash, according to WHAS11’s reporting.
Driver’s Speeding History at Center of Lawsuit
With criminal charges off the table, the civil suit has become the family’s main avenue for accountability. The lawsuit alleges the ambulance driver had two previous speeding tickets, including one received while employed by PRP Fire, the station’s report notes. A person with the same name as the driver also pleaded guilty in June 2024 to driving 25 miles per hour over the speed limit in a personal vehicle, per the same account…