Left inset: Ronald Shuck. Right inset: The office chair purportedly used by Phoenix firefighters in their attempt to move Ronald Shuck. Background: The staircase where the incident involving Phoenix firefighters allegedly took place, before they accidentally dropped Ronald Shuck (KPNX/YouTube).
An elderly Arizona man’s life took a tragic turn after firefighters attempted to transport him down a short flight of stairs using what has been described as a “cheap roller chair” without armrests, instead of a proper gurney. The 76-year-old, Ronald Shuck, suffered grievous head and back injuries from the fall, ultimately leaving him in a vegetative state from which he never recovered, his family asserts.
In response to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Ronald Shuck’s widow in 2024, the city of Phoenix has consented to a $605,000 settlement. The suit accuses the Phoenix Fire Department of gross negligence due to inadequate training for the firefighters who attended to Shuck in January 2024, following a distress call made by his wife.
The settlement was officially sanctioned after the Phoenix City Council’s unanimous vote during a session held on July 1, as reflected in online public records.
“On around January 5, 2024, decedent Ronald Shuck was unable to rise from the toilet,” states the legal filing by his wife. “Firefighters from the City of Phoenix were dispatched to their residence, where they placed Ronald into a wheeled office chair to evaluate his vital signs. Post-assessment, they suggested that Ronald be transported to the hospital via ambulance for further examination.”
Once the ambulance arrived, four of the firefighters allegedly attempted to use the desk chair to lift Shuck “up from his porch” and “walk down the four steps at the entry/exit of the Shuck’s trailer home,” the complaint said.
Shuck was facing backward when the firefighters allegedly dropped him as they proceeded down the steps. This caused Shuck to “fall out of the chair backwards hitting the concrete stairs, cement, and then the ground with his head and upper back,” according to the complaint. His wife allegedly saw everything unfold as Shuck broke his back and neck.
“Ronald immediately complained of intense head pain and back pain,” the document alleged. “The City of Phoenix Firefighters failed to provide Ronald Shuck with a safe transfer. The firefighters’ actions were grossly negligent.”
After allegedly dropping Shuck, the firefighters transported him to the hospital where he was “diagnosed with injuries caused by the drop,” per the complaint. “As a result of the defendants’ negligence, Ronald Shuck died,” the document said.
“He was unable to walk and should have been carried out to the ambulance on a gurney and/or proper transport device with restraints and straps,” the complaint concluded. “The defendants and each of them, recklessly created an unsafe condition. The defendants knew or should have known that they created or allowed to exist a hazardous and dangerous situation in which a member of the general public could be injured.”
Shuck’s son, Ryan Shuck, told local NBC affiliate KPNX in February 2024 that his father was “not a small person,” so he doesn’t understand why the firefighters would “choose” to use a “cheap roller chair with no armrests” instead of a gurney. Ronald Shuck died on Jan. 23, 2024.
“Someone should suffer the consequences for what they did,” he said. “He could no longer move or talk, or eat or drink. Watching him take his last breath was probably the hardest moment of my life.”
The city of Phoenix did not respond to Law&Crime’s requests for comment Monday.