my congresswoman was shot today

[KnottedYet]

we all know how much was horribly wrong about this tragedy. Here's something that was miraculously right, and gives me some hope:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7230296n

And can we please take note that in gunsighted "REAL America" Arizona, a Jewish woman was shot by a man with inadequate health care and her life was saved by a gay Latino young man?

(Flags in my state were at half-mast today for the victims in Arizona, and we all thought of your state during our moment of silence.)

BTW: Daniel Hernandez Jr. self-identifies as gay, and is a member of the City of Tucson Commission on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues.

Here's what he did, which in all honesty is probably more than I'd be capable of doing, and I'm supposed to be a trained Medical First Responder:
When the shots began that morning, he saw many people lying on the ground, including a young girl. Some were bleeding. Hernandez said he moved from person to person checking pulses.

"First the neck, then the wrist," he said. One man was already dead. Then he saw Giffords. She had fallen and was lying contorted on the sidewalk. She was bleeding.

Using his hand, Hernandez applied pressure to the entry wound on her forehead. He pulled her into his lap, holding her upright against him so she wouldn't choke on her own blood. [snip]

Hernandez used his hand to apply pressure until someone from inside Safeway brought him clean smocks from the meat department. He used them to apply pressure on the entrance wound, unaware there was an exit wound. He never let go of her.

He stayed with Giffords until paramedics arrived. They strapped her to a board and loaded her into an ambulance. Hernandez climbed in with her. On the ride to the hospital, he held her hand. She squeezed his back. - Arizona Republic

[Biciclista]

And can we please take note that in gunsighted "REAL America" Arizona, a Jewish woman was shot by a man with inadequate health care and her life was saved by a gay Latino young man?

Yes, Knot, you're right.

[azfiddle]

I believe that quite a few organizations, schools etc have been setting up crisis teams. The school I teach in encouraged us to let kids talk about things today, and observed the national moment of silence. One of my students knew the young staff-member who was killed.

[maillotpois]

She's a cyclist as well:

http://tucsonvelo.com/news/congressw...ds-talks-bikes

Beautiful bike.

[badgercat]

Maillotpois, I follow the blog you just linked, and I remember reading that story when it first posted. Thank you for finding the link, because I hadn't had a chance to dig it up yet.

I stopped by Gabby Giffords' office in Tucson today while out doing errands by bike. I snapped a quick picture but didn't want to get too involved with the photography out of respect for the smattering of people around who were in contemplation and in prayer. This really doesn't do the scene justice... the cards, flowers, signs, and candles extend beyond this frame, and there are dozens of messages chalked on the sidewalk.

It was a moving scene... especially the two school-aged boys I saw, each clutching a bouquet of flowers, along with their dad, who helped them read some of the signs out loud.

[lunacycles]

Yo Knotted Yet. Yes, absolutely. I am on FB and here's what a friend posted after reading about the heroism of gay latino Daniel Hernandez (and I couldn't agree more...):

So much for gays and latinos being subhuman devils (as per certain political leanings). This could not be more poignant. Arizona, pay attention. You are your own worst enemy.

It's like the hatred inevitably creates a love, and you can't deny the love that comes out of something like this, regardless of what that love looks like and how it "meshes" with your political beliefs.
over 'n out.
y'all take care!

[KnottedYet]

A group started after a mentally ill man inspired by Beck and O'Reilly went into a children's service at a church in order to kill religious liberals:

www.standingonthesideoflove.org

He succeeding in killing 2 people. One was a church usher, who placed his body in front of the crazed gunman in order to protect the children.

[Trek420]

Beautiful bike.

I was gonna say Jamis based on the colors but then saw her name on the top tube So I'm thinkin' custom. Lunacycles, one of yours?

I hope she recovers to ride again.

[maillotpois]

I was gonna say Jamis based on the colors but then saw her name on the top tube So I'm thinkin' custom. Lunacycles, one of yours?

I hope she recovers to ride again.

It's a Bohemian.

[KnottedYet]

I hope she recovers to ride again.

Honestly, I doubt that is a possibility.

Maybe she'll be able to walk again. I doubt she'll be able to speak fully. Probably won't be able to feed herself (but maybe could swallow if someone else feeds her). Likely will be in diapers for the rest of her life.

Unless she was extremely lucky, having a bullet go through her brain is pretty much the end of life as she knew it.

[Veronica]

It's a Bohemian.

Yep, and I just realized we took pictures of it when we picked up our Bohemian tandem in San Diego.







Dave Bohm actually talked with us a lot about how excited he was that someone in the government was actually riding a bike.

How sad. And that's not a word that adequately displays the depth of emotion.

Veronica

[emily_in_nc]

Unless she was extremely lucky, having a bullet go through her brain is pretty much the end of life as she knew it.

This incident serves to remind me how quickly everything in life can change in the blink of an eye. Gabrielle was such a beautiful, intelligent woman with so much to give and share, and it pisses me off to no end that ability was so callously stolen away from her without any warning. It reminds me that we all need to appreciate life's preciousness and to remember to tell those we love that we love them and to not waste time and life energy on trivial crap. The last time I felt this so strongly was when my dad died in an auto accident in 2005.

Just reading the last couple pages on this thread has me with tears in my eyes. It is very difficult to get my mind around the fact that there are people who kill others for no good reason, and simply impossible to grok that there are people, like the Westborough Baptist lunatics, who revel in such heinous acts.

[Owlie]

This incident serves to remind me how quickly everything in life can change in the blink of an eye. Gabrielle was such a beautiful, intelligent woman with so much to give and share, and it pisses me off to no end that ability was so callously stolen away from her without any warning. It reminds me that we all need to appreciate life's preciousness and to remember to tell those we love that we love them and to not waste time and life energy on trivial crap.

This.

[badgercat]

Mere millimeters one way or another can make a huge difference in head trauma, and every brain is different. I also haven't actually heard where the bullet entered or exited for sure, as I've heard some reports say forehead, some say side-to-side, etc.

We really just won't know until when/if they ease off the sedation and take her off the ventilator. Considering she's already made it this far, I just feel like it's too early to predict what her abilities will or won't be as a result of this event. She could even be physically fine but wake up with a completely different personality. Who knows? I'd rather wait and see than speculate at this point.

[KnottedYet]

Nope, we won't know until later.

Everything I've heard suggests Daniel Hernandez Jr. held her brains in at the front with his hand, and (inadvertently) held her brains in at the exit wound against his belly as he kept her upright in his lap so she wouldn't asphyxiate on her own blood.

Maybe the bullet went right down the division between the two halves of the brain, barely nicking either. But I'm not betting she'll be riding her bike again. I'd love to be proved wrong.

I'm very glad my taxes (and yours) go to provide lifetime healthcare for members of Congress. She will need it.