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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
In 2022, Star Trek lost one of its greatest icons. Nichelle Nichols played Uhura on The Original Series and continued to play this character over the course of six films. She was a Civil Rights legend whose work on the original Trek was praised by none other than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thanks to her awesome performance, Uhura became a pop culture legend, one who has since been portrayed by two other talented ladies: Zoe Saldaña and Celia Rose Gooding. Sadly, Nichols passed away a few years ago of heart failure. At the time, fans had no reason to be suspicious about her death, especially because she was 89 and already suffering from dementia.
However, last year, Nichols’ family sued the Gila Regional Medical Center for wrongful death. In a statement to local Albuquerque, New Mexico news station KOAT, the family’s attorney, Lisa Curtis, alleged that “didn’t do cardiac work on her. Instead, they discharged her home. She died seven hours later.” At the time, it was unclear whether the lawsuit would be successful. However, the family won a bittersweet victory and was recently awarded $13 million dollars after winning the case.
Her Harrowing Final Hours
Fair warning, Star Trek fans: the final hours of Nichelle Nichols are pretty bleak. She was already suffering from dementia and a heart condition; when her heart began acting up, she was taken by ambulance to Gila Regional Medical Center. What she was experiencing appeared to be the symptoms of acute heart failure. However, the Nichols’ family attorney, Lisa Curtis, told KOAT that “They put her in an observation unit” instead of doing cardiac work on her or having her transferred somewhere else (like “Las Cruces, where they have cardiologists on staff”). Curtis alleged that Nichols was simply discharged and sent home, where she died seven hours later.
The family’s lawsuit was successful, and thanks to a recent verdict, they will be receiving $13 million dollars. It reportedly took the jury only a couple of hours to determine that the Gila Regional Medical Center was guilty of negligence. The lawsuit also determined specific levels of liability for different parties involved. One of Nichols’ doctors was found 60 percent liable, while another doctor was found not liable at all. As for GRMC, they were deemed 40 percent liable for the case involving this Star Trek icon’s death. This represents a major victory for Nichols’ son, Kyle, who pointed out that if a major celebrity could receive negligent treatment, the same could happen to anyone.
While this verdict may bring closure to Nichelle Nichols’ family, it will likely not do so for her legions of Star Trek fans. At the time of her death, most of the fandom thought that her passing was just an inevitable (if obviously sad) consequence of old age and deteriorating health. Now, this lawsuit has brought up the uncomfortable possibility that she might very well still be alive if she had received better medical care when she needed it the most. However, grieving fans may want to follow in her son’s footsteps and do their best to create something that Nichols convinced us all was possible: a better tomorrow.
