By Catherine Olian
Rock Center
Petra Anderson, one the victims of the Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting, is recovering far better than her family or her doctors could have hoped for. The 22-year-old, who was studying music and composition, was hit by a shotgun blast. One of the pellets went in through her nose, right through the middle of her brain and all the way to the back of her skull, says Dr. Michael Rauzzino, a neurosurgeon at the Medical Center of Aurora who is treating Petra Anderson.
Miraculously, says Dr. Rauzzino, the pellet missed all the major blood vessels in Petra’s brain.
“Never in my entire career have I seen a case where a bullet’s traversed the entire brain like this and not caused severe damage or death,” Rauzzino said.
Petra is already walking and talking, her family says, and Dr. Rauzzino is hopeful that “she’s going to make a very good recovery from this.”
While Petra’s prognosis is good, recovery from a brain injury can take months or even years of rehabilitation and that’s expensive. The Andersons have some insurance, Petra’s sister Chloe told us, but they’re worried it won’t be enough to cover the mounting medical bills.
“The bills that will come in will be crippling,” Chloe Anderson said. In Colorado, nearly one out of every three people are either uninsured or under-insured, according to The Colorado Trust, a health care advocacy group.
To raise money, Chloe and a friend of Petra’s set up a website and created a video to reach out to strangers for help, both for their family and for other victims of the shooting.
“I wanted to do something to help my sister and potentially help other people who are affected by this”, Chloe Anderson said.
Even before the shooting, the Anderson family was scrambling to pay medical expenses for Petra’s mother, Kim, who is suffering from advanced breast cancer and whose only hope is experimental treatment.
“It’s not covered because it’s in clinical trials still”, says Chloe Anderson. As sick as Kim is, she has been working two jobs so that she and her children can have medical insurance.
Caleb Medley, a 23-year-old aspiring stand-up comic who was critically injured in the attack, has no insurance at all, according to his brother. He was watching the movie with his wife, Katie, who was 9 months pregnant, when a bullet ripped through his face and into his brain. He’s in the hospital, fighting for his life.
Dr. Comilla Sasson works at the University of Colorado Hospital and treated Caleb Medley and 22 other victims the night of the shooting. She says the seriously injured could be facing healthcare costs of “hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars.”
Caleb’s family had one piece of good news; Caleb’s wife Katie gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Hugo, in the same hospital where Caleb is being treated. His friends also set up a website to raise money. So did friends of Farrah Soudani, 22, who was also shot and is uninsured.
Some of the hospitals in Aurora say they’ll help the victims with their medical expenses. As for the Anderson family, they are grateful for all the support they’ve received from strangers through their website; they’ve already received pledges of more than $200,000 dollars.
“We’ve heard from people in China, we’ve heard from people in South America,” says Chloe. “It’s incredible.”
To see how you can help the Aurora victims check out the sites below:
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What a wonderful story about the charity and beauty in the hearts of those in the community, even when the community is worldwide. This is how it used to be, before government interference. People helped each other just like these folks are being helped now. Prayers for all those affected by this horrible man.
So Kate Snow eluded to the Health Care Plan recommended by our current President and that it is what Americans need. That is fine - but where is the reporting as to what that Health Care plan would cover - I do not think that even that insurance would cover all the costs and $$$ will accrue! Please start doing complete reporting!!
If you search Google for "healthcare.gov" and "lifetime caps" you will find that the health care reform law is phasing out annual and lifetime caps on health insurance benefits. That will help with some of what you're describing.
Thank you for this wonderful story! This is how things used to be, before government interference. People helped their neighbors, even if now the neighborhood is worldwide. Continuing prayers for the families affected by this horrible man.
I hope that the victims of this get the help and care they need. Having said that, I love how one week after the CO shootings Brian Williams and his liberal media corporation are using this tragedy to spin Nazi style propaganda to promote Obamacare.
Beg everyone's pardon, but in all of this discussion of who should help pay the bills, where in the hell are the gun and ammo companies?? You know - those people who profit because they sell their wares to the whackos of the world and make a boatload of cash in the process? Why are THEY not contributing to the healthcare bills of the victims? Is nobody else asking this question? if not, why not? They should be left paying for EVERYTHING!!! They made the money when they sold the goods - they should be held to some level of accountability when things like this happen. I can't believe that we let them get away with this; it's time for a change!! I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!!!!
JimmyT1956, what a fool! People buy items legally, then use those items to kill people, and we should blame the manufacturer's of the items for the murders or try to make them pay the medical bills of the victims? That is one of the stupidest statements I have ever read!!!! So if I go buy a Louisville Slugger baseball bat and start whacking passersby on the street with it, then the victims should sue the Louisville Slugger company for medical costs to the victims because I am a dumba$$ and injured/killed them?? That is what is wrong with America, everybody wanting to blame everybody else for the actions of a few dumba$$e$$!!!! People are responsible for their OWN actions. Guns don't kill people, they may be the instrument used, but the person holding, aiming, and pulling the trigger is the one responsible, because people kill people! If the gun is laying on table, it cannot aim itself, and shoot somebody! It holds no malice against anyone or anything, has no feelings, cannot want revenge, it is an inanimate object! It must be operated by a person to inflict harm on another person! That person is the one at fault and the one that is responsible! Not the manufacturers! If the gun was sold legally, following all laws within the locale of the shop, then the only person that can be accountable is the shooter, baring any mental health disorders that might have needed attention.
Next thing people like you are going to think up is the company who fires a person, lays them off, or has no more work for an employee, should be held accountable because that ex-employee has a nervous breakdown and goes on a killing spree on innocent people because he/she cannot handle the loss of the job!
Have a good day!
BTW, I am not saying the crime is not a tragedy; a terrible and horrendous situation for all concerned! Hell, I don't know how I would handle something like this if it happened to one of my family members, one of my sons or daughters, my wife, mother, etc. I do know that I would not go after gun and ammunition manufactures for medical bills! You cannot go chasing ghosts because the victims and their families are having to endure the ramifications after-the-fact of crimes like these! Sure, the manufacturers may have millions of dollars, they may have mansions, and fancy cars, go to the best country clubs, etc., but they are not at fault! They have people working for them too, just like you and I! Is it the worker's fault that one of the guns they made for the manufacturer was used in crimes like these? Should they have to suffer for the criminal acts of others? Hell no! The fact of the matter is, people are messed up, some of them do horrendous things, they are the ones responsible. Have nice day!
In a year we will be reading the same stories about uninsured. There is no real mechanism in the Health Care Plan to force someone to buy insurance. In addition the base exchange plans will be 60/40 payment plans. That leaves 40% of the cost on the insured.
I'll say it over and over again - I'm lucky to be Canadian! I can't imagine a bill like the ones these people are expecting!