Austin TX - Drugged, Mugged, Robbed
Donation protected
Hello everyone, my name is Kaleb. I’m 26 years old. Been in Austin, TX for about 19 years now, yet surprisingly this past ACL was my first time ever attending. i got a wristband for free from a childhood best friend and we went together on the last Sunday of the festival. We had work the following day and left the concert a little earlier so we could get Chuys off Barton. It was about 11pm and packed.
Long story short:
THIS WAS NOT THE WORST IT COULD HAVE BEEN, AND I’M THANKFUL MY FRIEND WAS ABLE TO GET AWAY, AND JUST THANKFUL TO BE ALIVE.
My friend and I were drugged by someone at the bar. We left and began walking to the car which was about a little under a mile walk. After 10 mins of leaving Chuys I don’t remember much. (guess muggers followed us from chuys waiting for the drugs to take effect) My friend who was walking ahead of me at the time said he heard me scream telling him to run, which he did, and they chased him too but luckily he got away. He said last he saw me i was fighting 5-6 guys until one of them pistol whipped me, knocking me unconscious and then drug me under the congress bridge. I was in a coma for roughly 7 hours, and woke up well over a mile from where i was attacked. I have had nightmares frequently of being bagged over my head and loaded into the trunk of a car and driven somewhere.
I’m not sure if that’s a reality but the nightmares are very vivid. At times i wake up and think there’s bad guys in my room. I can’t bring myself to be comfortable in large crowds and most places i feel at danger alone. Alongside the psychological damage of PTSD, i have a huge scar (at least it looks cool, silver lining) I have developed early signs of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) which usually isn’t seen in patients until about 60 years of age. It’s indicative of cognitive impairment, problems with walking and balance, blurred or double vision, vertigo, slurred speech and stuttering, and can be a cause of eventual dimentia, alzheimer’s , confusion, and depression. All of which I have experienced after the night i was mugged, besides Alzheimer’s and Dimentia however i have had moderate to sometimes severe memory loss and forgetfulness. And CSVD will likely lead to those two, and put me at higher risk of stroke.
I woke up behind some dumpsters next to a few A/C units 6-7 hours after the incident. Hat gone, shoes gone, wallet gone, phone gone. Everything of value, gone. Due to the TBI and concussion, i couldn’t remember my name or where i was, or had been, i just remembered my friend and thought since he wasn’t with me then, he must have been murdered. i hid in a mechanical closet for 2 long hours grieving his death and scared for my own life still. Then i heard a blessing, I heard my phones alarm going off. it was in a field of some grass outside the parking garage i was in. That was a blessing. I was able to call for help and finally see what my face looked like with this selfie posted above with blood covering my shirt, (i’m awake when i took the pic, light was too bright to keep eyes open).
Luckily my friend was alive, just still under the heavy effects of the drugs slipped into our drinks when we found him, but he was okay.
I’m raising money to pay for my personal medical expenses, and so i can see a psychiatrist for my progressing symptoms of the PTSD.
Once i feel comfortable enough, i plan to take initiative to warn locals and maybe attempt to collab with festivals in the city (or anywhere really) to promote awareness of things like this happening, to prevent future occurrences through people like me sharing their story and others stepping forward to show how common this really happens. I want to setup a network of those interested in educating the community on how to watch for and prevent these things from happening to them, and build resources for the victims of violence in any form. My dream has always been to help others. Maybe me being the victim of something like this will turn to drive me to do just that.
Thanks so much for reading.
KALEB
Organizer
Kaleb Hadenfeldt
Organizer
Austin, TX
