The sister of a man who died after falling from a Valley Metro light rail platform is hoping her family's loss will help implement new safety measures.
Phoenix resident Mitchell Geary, 58, died Sept. 13 in the hospital, days after being injured at the Downtown Phoenix Hub Station, according to his sister, Maryann Beausoleil. Geary's head struck the concrete when his motorized wheelchair's rear wheels spun off the station platform the morning of Sept. 4, according to Beausoleil. Geary's primary cause of death was blunt force trauma, according to the website of the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner.
Valley Metro confirmed an individual using a motorized wheelchair fell from the platform at the Downtown Phoenix Hub station on Jefferson
Street between 1st and Central avenues.
"We are saddened to learn of his passing and extend our sincere condolences to his family and loved ones during this difficult time," said Valley Metro spokesperson Juliana Vasquez-Keating in an email.
Beausoleil, 57, said she wants to push for further platform safety, "so nobody else has to deal with the same thing that he did."
Wheelchair reversed as man tried pivoting away, son told man's sister
An Arizona-born, longtime Phoenix resident, Geary was a widowed father of two. He had been a lifelong outdoorsman and a diesel mechanic instructor. He became reliant on his wheelchair some years ago, Beausoleil said.
Geary was traveling with his son to an appointment with a cardiologist, Beausoleil said. He was familiar with the Valley Metro light rail as a passenger, she added. Beausoleil said that based on what she was told about the incident, Geary's wheelchair went in reverse as he tried to pivot away from the platform's edge after having unwittingly approached it before being alerted by other passengers.
Daniel K. Auna, 42, said he was at the station when he saw Geary in his wheelchair, close to the platform's edge just before he fell backwards. Auna jumped on the tracks to render aid to Geary as the light rail train approached, the health and fitness businessman said.
Geary was "faintly breathing and barely had a pulse" with "his eyes wide open" and "was out for about 10 minutes" before paramedics arrived, Auna said.Based on a photo shared by Beausoleil, Geary appeared to be driving a joystick-controlled, mid-wheel drive electric-powered wheelchair for indoor and outdoor use. Based on what she understands of Geary's wheelchair, Beausoleil suspects he did not detect the platform's tactile paving designed to caution people of their proximity to the edge.
"I don't know if his wheelchair would have indicated that" the wheels were rolling over the tactile paving, Beausoleil said. "When you're riding on the sidewalk, there's the cracks in the sidewalk and it's all bumpy. And I don't know that he would've differentiated that from just a regular sidewalk going over bumps."
Guardrails could prevent further deadly accidents, sister thinks
There is about one foot of distance between the platform's edge and the concrete bottom on which Geary hit his head after falling.
Further complicating matters for Geary was his glaucoma, Beausoleil said.
She thinks the use of guardrails throughout the platform would have helped prevent Geary from an accident that proved fatal.
"It would just be very beneficial. I don't think he would have fallen had there been that railing because he would've hit the rail," Beausoleil said.
Vasquez-Keating said in her email that Valley Metro rail stations are compliant with the American Disabilities Act and include "detectable warning surfaces along the platform edges."
Between January 2024 and June 2026, platform barriers have been installed in 158 New York City subway stations with 51% of surveyed passengers responding they felt safer because of them, according to the Metropolitan Transit Authority's website.
"All the things we have in this world have all been updated as we've gone along. Well, why not update the light rail platforms?" Beausoleil said.
Have a news tip? Contact The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com at newstips@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Family wants change upon man's death after Valley Metro platform fall
