Mom: Amputation Decision in Pennsylvania Bus Crash ‘Excruciating’

An eastern Pennsylvania woman says the decision whether to have doctors amputate her 16-year-old daughter’s leg after she was run over by a school bus was “excruciating” and the “worst day ever of my life.”

Faced with that testimony, a Bucks County jury will begin deliberating on Monday how much that suffering – by 16-year-old Ashley Zauflik and her mother, Marguerite – is worth in dollars and cents.

The girl’s mother testified Friday and the jury is expected to get the case after attorneys for the Zaufliks and the Pennsbury School District make their closing arguments.

The family wants at least $3 million in damages, plus pain and suffering from the district which just days ago finally acknowledged liability, saying a driver error caused the crash on Jan. 12, 2007. The trial was held to determine a damage amount.