My Son Gonzalo's Critical Recovery Fund

On October 24th, 2022, my 16-year-old son, Gonzalo Mendieta Santana, was attacked and brutally assaulted outside a Novato Elementary School. He suffered multiple severe injuries and was checked into the ICU the same night. He has been in critical condition & intensive care ever since. He has had numerous surgeries already and is scheduled to have more while struggling with ongoing severe medical complications due to the gravity of his injuries. While we have seen some good days and are hopeful for more, it will be a long road ahead. This event has been an emotionally and financially exhausting tragedy. We are asking our community to help gather funds for Gonzalo’s recovery to help relieve some of the financial hardship during this time and provide access to resources to help him return to his everyday life someday.

Any funds donated will go to helping me pay for Gonzalo’s medications, surgeries & medical expenses while in ICU, as well as the future cognitive, physical and speech therapies needed for his road to recovery. Additionally, some of these funds will help me pay our rent and bills and to take care of my family while I stay by my son’s side during this difficult time. This incident has been a trying time for all family and friends of Gonzalo. We appreciate all the kind words and prayers we have received. We will be able to provide updates on Gonzalo’s recovery when we can for those that want to keep up with his recovery. We ask the community to be patient with us, as this is a lengthy recovery we are looking at, and things are changing daily.

Thank you to all for the support!

Sincerely Gonzalo’s loving mother,

Veronica Arcos (Santana) & on behalf of my whole family

If you are unfamiliar with the incident & would like to read the articles, here are some links, as we are legally not allowed to give details on an open case. Thank you for understanding.