Arnold is a hard-working 24-year-old who makes his living working with his hands as a carpenter in the construction industry. On Wednesday night, August 7, 2019,  sometime around midnight, Arnold walked into St. Luke’s Hospital at The Vintage seeking medical attention for a severely wounded and bleeding right arm. After a brief triage, he was sent out to the ER waiting room. The problem with this scenario is that Arnold had a severed artery in his arm. Even with a belt from a good Samaritan wrapped tightly around his upper right arm, and a towel wrapped around the wound, his right arm continued to bleed... and bleed... and bleed... all over the floor in the reception area of the ER. And even with others requesting and demanding that Arnold be treated immediately, the staff did nothing until finally his body sank down into the puddles of his own blood, completely void of strength.

I know this, because I was in the waiting room and documented this entire experience on video. When Arnold fell to the floor, I, along with several in the waiting room, gathered around him... helpless... in the ER! His entire body was shivering and he was barely conscious. Finally, after 45 minutes of bleeding, a staff member approached and took him back to a room.  Everyone in the waiting room was incredibly disturbed by what we’d just witnessed. It was incomprehensible. Inconceivable.

I am a believer in not only justice and truth (the reason I posted the video on Facebook) but also in the kindness and goodness of humanity. The outpouring of concern for the well being of Arnold has truly touched me. As I’ve gotten to know him through this horrifying experience, and read the supportive (as well as outraged) comments of complete strangers, my heart is full—full of faith in humanity, and full of concern about how my new friend will be able to support himself over the next while. How does someone in the construction industry work when their arm doesn’t? Along with the fresh wound, there is very real concern of nerve damage.

So I’ve started a Go Fund Me for my new friend Arnold called Arnold’s Angels. I’m a firm believer in  Angels...of all sorts. I know there are many angels walking every street of this huge world. I invite you to become one of Arnold’s Angels. Every little bit will help.

Thank You,

Tami Keller Torero