84-year-old woman with walker injured on escalator at MBTA station

BOSTON - At the age of 84, Eleanor Harris is in the one place she'd rather not be: her bed. It doesn't take long to learn that Harris is a smart, independent, and tough woman. But when we spoke at her home Friday evening, she was lying in a hospital bed that had just been delivered. A remedy, she hopes, for sleepless nights due to excruciating pain.

On Tuesday, Harris was making a trip from her home in Rockport to Tufts Medical Center in Boston. She was going to visit her husband of 60 years who is a patient there. Harris said she used the commuter rail and MBTA Orange Line to get there as she has countless times before. "I would say I go at least once a month," she said.

Elevator not in service at T station

When Harris got off the train at the Tufts Medical Center stop, she said the elevator from the platform was not in service. Harris claims there were no attendants on the platform and her only option was to take her walker and try to use the escalator.

"So, I took my walker and went to the escalator and got my feet on and went about three steps and the escalator knocked my walker into me and knocked me over. I smashed my head on two sides," she said.

Harris recalled an MBTA attendant came running from the platform above and helped her up. That employee, Harris said, offered to call her an ambulance but Harris refused.

Instead, Harris walked across the street to Tufts Medical Center and to her husband's room. Within 15 minutes, Harris said she checked herself into the Emergency Department and after several tests it was determined she had a spinal fracture.

She was released from the hospital and driven home to Rockport where she has been recovering since.

MBTA apologizes for "troubling experience"

The MBTA provided a statement following a request for comment on this incident. Their statement in full:

"We were concerned to learn of this and take such reports very seriously. Our priority is always the safety and well-being of our riders. This experience for any passenger is unacceptable. This matter is under review, and we are in touch with the impacted individual and are addressing her concerns directly. We apologize for the troubling experience and are always striving to make the T more accessible for our riders."

Harris said she had called the MBTA Customer Service line later in the week and the operator connected her with the agency's attorney. Her goal, she said, was not to sue but to try to hold the agency accountable to ensure this doesn't happen again.

"I am not going to go for a long while," Harris said. "I am so scared now, and I don't know who I am going to use for a doctor. I love my doctors. That is why I go there. They are wonderful."