here is my whole story from the beginning
i travelled back to oakland for my birthday and to see my friend chris his band play, which is my fav band at the moment
SANGRE ETERNA
day 1 friday night 3 february 2006
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Went out on friday night, first to the east bay rats bikersclub for a BBQ
after that i met up with ppl at the silver lion punkbar
My friends were there, sean smithson,sean mcgrath and christy
We deceded to call it a night and sean was gonna drop us all off
first one dropped off was christy, she just moved down to oakland 7 days ago from santa cruz
Anyways we dropp her off, when right in front of her house 7 kids were beating up another kid up kicking and punching him on the middle of the road
we pulled over, since we already had to be there for christy,we got out of the car,screamed at the kids to stop that shit,when they`(about 7 or so of them) ran away.
sean mcgrath and me walked up to the beatup kid to see if he was alright and i lifted him up as i did that the same kids,packed into a big white kinda cadillac car turned their car away,pulled a huge sweeping uturn, and came back our way and tried to run us over, i pushed the beateenup kid aside and got hit insted.
i have no idea if i flew up in the air, or anything like that,its still blury to me.but i know i wasnt wearing my shoes anymore.
i was screaming in pain,couldnt move at all,laying there in the middle of the road as sean smithson had to drag me by my clothing and arms to get me the hell outta there.ive never in my life had so much physical pain EVER.
christy called the cops and ambulance.th surounding neighbours came out,some of them claimed to have witnessed the attack on the beatupkid and me getting run over.Once the police got there, i dunno how long it took them to get wher we were,they took our names and addresses and questioned the neighbours and asked us what happend and i tried to give them as much info as i could,but cause i was in such pain and all the ambulance ppl took me to the hospital,the police said they would follow us to the hospital to get my testamony.they never showed up.i rode in the ambulance with the beatenup kid,he never spoke a word to me.not hi,not are you ok, not even a simple thanks.seems the situation is like this: he did something to upset those thugs,since he seemed to be a thug himself.
the ambulance take my bloodpressure, it was so low that they didnt want to give me any medication,i had to wait till i got threre
Once at ALTA BATES MEDICAL CENTRE, they took my bloodpressure again and it was better.they wanted to put me on morphine but i refused.i didnt want to be all drugged up when i have to stiill talk to doktors and police.i layed in the hall way,waiting my turn to be examened and getting a room.all i could see was the ceiling i couldnt move right or left cause they taped my head on the rescueboard and i had a brace on my neck and i was strapped to the board too.after they put me in the room they put me on a EKG machine (hartmonitor`and all that) contactpoint stuck to my body.i layed like that for an hour and a half when sean smithson entered the room after having to cause a scene to be allowed in my room.he called for a doc and finally after 2 hours and so a doc came in and he seemed to be surpriced that i was still strapped and taped to the board and he imediately asked the nurse to remove me from the board so i could have te comfort of feeling the matras of the bed insted of wood in my back!
i layed like that for a few hours like that.after 5 hours later i got 2 vicodins which are painkillers(MY FIRST MEDICATION SINCE I GOT THERE) and was taken to xray room.oh my god it fucking hurt moving my leg up and down,other position for them to take xrays.i had so many doctors and staff asking 100 questions about my insurance and what my address was in belgium.every single time a different person asking me same questions,i asnwered million times before.like what is your social security number.i was so fed up saying I AM NOT AN AMERICAN , I AM A TOURIST FROM BELGIUM.no one seemed to have shared the info i previous gave to other staff of the ALTA BATES MEDICAL CENTRE.
meanwhile 6 and a half hours have pasted before i got my open cast up till my THIGH
Sean had to assist the nurse who was doing that, cause he couldnt do it alone, sean has no medical schooling!!it was hell and i dont think anyone didnt hear me scream on that floor.i asked for more medication before they released me.i got it on one condition,i had to stay at the hospital for another 25 minutes afterthe pill and then they would take my blood pressure again.we asked the nurse several times if we could call for a taxi but she put us on hold every single time.
meanwhile sean told me about the other guy who got beaten up had ran away from the hospital,trying to ascape from interagation from the police who didnt show up in the first place.sean mcgrath and sean smithson had to chase him down,half naked in the rain runnin to where ever he was running to.they almost coughthim but he got away, he was def scared of something.maybe getting shot, its well known for gangmembers come in the hospital to finsh what they started.
sean and i couldnt wait to get home.altho we felt i needed to stay there , since i was in extreme pain and we had no idea how to get me in the cab or up the stairs at chris and gwynnes house,which are about 20 steps up before entering the house.so anyways they put me in a wheelchair after i had to beg for one,cause they wanted me to walk outta my room to the cab outside on crutches with an opencast uptill my thigh by myself,what the fuck!!so we got to the cab,no assistence from medical ppl.it took sean and myself about 10 min to get in the cab,again screaming in agony.i had to lay down,there was no other way.
we got to the house,payed the cabdriver,then the hard part began,me dragging myself up the stairs on my ass, while sean supported my heal.it was really bad, not a single neighbour didnt hear me screaming.about 40 min later i was on the fouton in the livingroom.THANK GOD THEY DIDNT HAVE A SMALL COUCH FOR ME TO LAY ON
day 2 and 3 at gwynnes and chris house
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i layed like that for 2 days, couldnt even get up from my bed to go to the bathroom, the pain was just too much, even laying down.The hospital didnt even give me a urinal,so we had to improvise.we cut up a 2liter coke bottle for me to do my thing in.you cant imagine what that was like.the jeans i was wearing were cut open almost till my hip,so we decided to fully cut it open, so i could take it off and put me in my pijama.thats when we saw the state of my other leg,that wasnt even looked at.it was all bruised on my shin and totally swollen ,one more reason why the hell i couldnt support myself on crutches.
on one of the papers of the hospital said i needed to contact doctor SCOTT TAYLOR ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON for an apointement on monday for a full examenation and a closed cast.
CHRIS CALLED HIS OFFICE
he refused to treat me, he didnt want to treat anyone not from this country ,having to deal with european health insurance, especially not EUROCROSS.we were refered to by DOCTOR SCOTT TAYLOR ASSISTANT OR SECRETARRY
.she told chris to take a look at the back of my releaseform for a listing of careproviders.we called HIGHLAND ACUTE CARE CENTRE.chris called that acute care centre, they refused me too cause i was not a patient of HIGHLAND COUNTY HOSPITAL.
this is were street ppl , unidentified ppl,homeless,junkies,uninsured`ppl go
So thats why they decided to call an ambulance to take us to highland county hospital.two very nice EMT 'S
arrived and they decided to move me with a scoop which is a metal rack totally strapped
they had to call two more EMT 'S
around11 am to cary me down the 20 stairs.once on the bodom they put me on a guerniey,the bed they pull in the ambulance.strapped again.i got in the emergancy room, after waiting my turn and asked several questions they took me into room 31 , same as my age thats why i remember, with 5 other ppl in the room..the doctor came in the room and he told me they wanted to perform surgery on me tomorrow the nurse advised ne to have an operation that way i would be on my feet in 2 weeks insted of being in a cast for about 6 months.got questioned some more
about insurance ,my social securety number ,my address here and my address in belgium.
i gave them all the info to doctor and sea owen and the by standing staff.my nurse eric took notes.
second doctor came in, shaved head and glasses on.he told me the oposite of what doctor sean told me, that i didnt need surgery at all, just a cast, so he put one on me and i was totally confused,on medication drugged weak, havent haqd sleep in 3 days, with controdicting information on my condition by several doctors and nurses.they left and
first doctor came back in my room and said they cant operate on ppl with that kinda insurance from outta the country but if i was AN ILLEGAL ALIEN IN THE USA THEY COULD OPERATE ON ME.
THEN.....he told me i didnt really need the surgery that urgent but on the other hand he also told me to go to the hospital when i got home to see for surgery.
chris told me when the EMT 'S PUT ME IN THE AMBULANCE
he would come and see me after 30 to 45 min i never heard from him
so i asked the nurse if she could check up on him being there , but she didnt have time for that, i understood
meanwhile i have been in that bed for a few hours,starving,in pain with no one next to me while i could
hear ppl go totally insane,one guy never stopped screaming or cursing the first few hours i was there.i saw
three 5150 come in which is insane ppl who have masks on so they wont spit in ppl s faces,thats the kinda ppl i was surounded with.
i am totally covered by insurance i have no reason for being here!!!!!!!!!!
time pasted still no word from chris or ben (who was at the house too when the ambulance came,he was gonna drive chris to highland to come see me) i got another doctor who said completly the oposite of my first doctor sean owen who was really nice.now hours passed . it was past 6 oclock and i had already asked if i could call someone to come visit me.i called gwynne at
her work and i told her everything, she called chris and then they came down.it was 7 30 pm.chris told me he called hospital every 20 min to ask if i was in a room yet or casted and they told him i wasnt admitted yet everysingle time oltho i was in my room almost imediatly when i entered the emergecy room at 11 30 am.they dont seem to give out current information.
chris also talked to my insurance company and they said i needed to stay in the hospital cause there was no way for me
to fly home yet cause of the swelling, you cant fly like that.
and it was almost impossible for me to stay at chris and gwynnes cause they are not doctors and i cant even fit in their bathroom cause my leg needs to stay stretched with the full cast on.also my insurance told chris and myself that im am fully insured and there shouldnt be any problems having me admitted in hospital for several days
we had to wait for the social worker to come and talk to me .SHE SEEMED TO BE
BOTEHRED BY THE WHOLE THING, PUTOFF ANOYED TO BE DEALED WITH THIS.complaining about how difficult this situation was .no one seemed to be realising that i was a victim of an assault with a deadly weapon,thats what my case was classified as, by the police.by the way , its day 3 now and i still havent heard from the police.we called and left numbers to call back to but never once heard from them.we told the doctor and social worker that i couldnt stay at the place i was staying at no more
and i needed to stay in hospital, advised by my insurance company.but they couldnt do that, so we asked for an alternative
after talking for a long time they sugested i could go to FEMA HOTEL
(in a neighbourhood that is worse then the neighbourhood i got run over )
which is a federal releave hotel, basically a place where they put the poor victims of HURRACAN KATRINA to stay and its far away from chris and gwynnes house, they have no car to come visit me.They also told me that no one could stay in my room to take care of me without payment so i would be by myself and i cant move off the bed.doctors told me to lay still in bed and not get upp,cause my leg needs to be elivated for the swelling,if i put my leg down on the ground, it would swell and get a purple color, it was scary.i ve been receiving 24 hour care from my friends who are now deadly tired and have been threatened by their bosses to get fired if they take another day of work and they are low on money as it is.
so now the social worker wants me to walk on crutches and we are trying to get a wheelschair for me, cause again, i cant support myself on crutches but no one besides my friends seems to care.i got a walker instead , i tried that but i cant stand longer then a few seconds on my ''good leg''.now ppl still dont realise iv e been run over by a car and my shoes flew off, my whole body is sore.do we evenspeak the same language here?????????????
after discusing the matterm for another hour we got a wheelchair but i couldnt take it with me.
we got a voucher for a taxi and the CRACKHEAD FEMA HOTEL.the voucher is only valid to go to the hotel so we got a ride from ben gibbs to take us to first hotel we came across.after driving an hour orso we found the best western in berkely.i had to pay for it myself.the hotelbill was 321 dollars for 2 nights.finally some rest ,and being surounded with ppl who actually give a fuck!!!!who have done everything for me so far, making every phonecall, change me ,wash me,feed me.......
its was around 1 oclock when we got in our room i had been in the hospital for about 12 and a half hours.TO GET A CAST ,BEING LIED TO AND GOT SCARED BY DIFFERENT DOCTORS WITH DIFFERENT OPINIONS.
day 4 making all the phonecalls
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consulate and ambassy cause they were close down the wknd when this whole thing happend.
called the police again and told them we were staying at the best western hotel in berkeley.
leaving contact phone numbers so they could reach us if they needed more information.
now the police insured us that they would come by, we gave our roomnumber,so they knew exactly where to be at.
but we never saw them.they never came by the hotel or called us again!
day 5 back in hospital
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the insurance company 's contact ppl in the States FRONTIER INTERNATIONAL assured us that with a fax from the saying,i was totally insured for hospitalisation,the hospital would admit me.so GITTE BACH from FRONTIER INTERNATIONAL called us an ambulance to take me from the best western hotel back to ALTA BATES once and for all.
we got the fax ,the same EMT 'S turned up ,they were surprise to see me , cause they thought i was in hospital.
anyways, got to the hospital, on my own , chris waiting in the hotel for a ride to get to the hotel,me waiting in my hospitalbed for my doctor to arrive.i had to sign some paperwork as usual, the same questions again!and took my bloodpressure.
they told me, evem with the fax they couldnt keep me.i asked twice already to go to the bathroom but no one took me
i also ask for a phone, never got it.NOW THIS IS THE GOOD HOSPITAL not the crackhead hospital in OAKLAND.
Doctor came in discharged me, gave me crutches and was on her way.the nurse was gonna show me how to use the crutches, i tried to tell her i couldnt because of the other leg hurting.they expected me to walk with the crutches to outside the hospital where the cab was waiting for me.i had to begged once again for a damn wheelchair.the nurse was escorting me outside when i asked her again to go to the toilet.she took my wheelchair in the bathroom ,i got up bymyself no help and tried to turn around so i could sit down.
she went outside and took the wheelschair with her(now this is a big bathroom with a bit of a walking distance from the toilet to the door) i turned around and saw she was gone, igot up and could hold my hands to the iron bar and twisted on one leg towards the door screaming help, cause i was falling outta balance.the security gard came and helped me back in my wheelchair that was outside of the door,no trace of the nurse.
gard pushed me outside, i went in the taxi.very hard to do with a total stretched leg and aching pain.
saw the nurse with folded arms just looking at me while i was crying trying to move my ass in the taxi.
what a freaking nightmare this is man.i ran outta patience, i am deadtired of no sleeping ,waking up with pain, and phonecalls from belgium in the middle of the night, interagating me.bombing me with loads of questions,not to metion the medication driving me wild.making me very itchy, i was scratching myself open,i felt sick in the stomach too.
ok , got back to the hospital, called consulate and frontier international again, left a msg, cause no one was there.
once frontier international called back they said, that the (asian)doctor in the ALTA BATES HOSPITAL said i refused to go to the orthopedic centre and that i had gum in my mouth.wtf has my gum got to do with my leg, or me bein in the hospital.she noticed the gum but not the big swollen bruise on my ''good leg''.well some ppl need to get their priorities straighten out.
gwynne had called the consulate from her work to tell them exactly what we needed them to do, only these two things :
get the policedepartement to get my statement,and assist me in filling out the california victims compasation form that we had to ask the social worker at HIGHLAND HOSPITAL.we had to ask for this , since i was a victim of a crime, she never told us about it, we had to drag it out.
i think we called the consulate and insurance ppl about at least ten times expalining the situation and they still think this is an accident insted of a violent crime.its like no one is taking notes, cause ts always a different person on the phone
we all taked to anne ,marie and veronique from the belgian consulate in los angeles
we also talked to gitte bach ,david and a roland from frontier international.
a sargent alexander from the oakland police departement who refured us to another phonenumber to contact other policeofficers
we got a call back from the consulant to let us know that the police closed the case, because they dont know who ran me over , and they dont know who the person was who got beaten up on the street, cause they never bothered to show up at the hospital to question him some more.thats how he could escape.
we also have been told thaqt there were no witnesses which is total bullshit, all the 3 ppl that were in the car with me, where at the hospital waiting to get their statements taken.we are still all waiting.anyways, the consulate let us know too, that my statement isnt nessecary for this investigation and if i want a copy of the file i need to pay 12 dollars to get it.i cant go to the police station, cause i am stuck in my bed, so i could send someone to go pick the file up with a copy of my id card and a note stating the name of the person i allow to pick up this copy of the file.
day7
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my insurance company called , that they would arrange me a nurse that they would fly over , so i have medical assistance on the flight home.they arranged a direct flight to amsterdam where there will be an ambulance waiting for me , that will driv me to my local hospital, which 3 hours away from amsterdam.
got my fiorst treatement today, from a MR YEN WEI CHOONG a chinese master in accupuncture and herbal healing
i must say i was afraid a little of the needles i am not at all familiar with this kinda treatement.
the nice doctor was the only one who was willing to help me without direct payment.this doctor is famous for his work, has treated famous rockstars including,santana and the greatfull dead.he has 35 years of experience.
he did miracles.i could move my broken leg, it was`wonderfull not to feel pain.we taped all of this with my videocamera.
sean smithson babysat on me today, we talked and watched movies.
day 8
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my nurse from belgium called me to introduce himself and letting me know he was on his way.
and gave me more information.
got a phone call from the consulant saying that if i want to put sue the police i can, cause they didnt do anything to solve the crime.wow.
sean mc grath and his lovely girldfriend stopped by the hotel
natalie baked me a bananabread,they gave me cheese ,apples, grapes and such things, also a box full of movies for us to watch.very nice
day 9
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got another treatement from the nice chinese doctor i woke up so sore this morning i couldnt move my leg,
he did his magical thing, my back full of needles all the way through and burning insecnce onit, so my whole back was on fire
needles in my arms and legs.it didnt feel good, it hurt but it made my leg feel hella better.thats what was important to me.
this treatement is very expendsive.
it cost me 500 dollars for a treatment.hopefully i get all of that covered
since this was the only real treatement i got that made me feel relaxed and relieved from my pain
had a lot of visitors
ben and baby adam came by,ben has ben awesome too, driving around for us, providing us with a laptop and just caring.alex have been here to on another day, not sure which one,jonh forcina stopped by, carl ,ryo,jenny,sean alberts they all called
i had a lot of suport from friends if i didnt have that i would ve been lost
chris and gwynne and the whole family RULE they put their own lives on hold to pay attention to me and take care of me.
i wouldnt now what to do without them.
chris also hurt his back, carrying me into the hotelroom, and injured his back.
i am forever greatfull to them and their family.
what if i was a tourist who didnt know ppl over here, just backpacking.i dont even wanna know about that
round 3 o clock my nurse johan arrived to the hotel, he seems very nice, but he didnt even know what went on with me, and that i was involved in a crime.no one bothered explaining that to him, so we filled him in on the sory and he was absolutly surprised of how i was treated in hospitals and insurance company
now i am sitting here, typing this letter, waiting to fly to amsterdam tomorrow the 13th of february , around 4 o clock in the afternoon and 11 hours of flying.
thinking of all the wonderfull things the coffee family and kontos family ,`my and their friends and the very helpfull staff at he hotel have been.they did more then the intire medical care ppl ever did for me.
we even are getting in touch with michael moore who is doin a movie on how bad medical care and health insurance is over here.
meantime , i ve done the interview with michael moores assistant in london England
IT WENT GREAT SO LOOK OUT WHEN THAT MOVIE COMES OUT
I WAS IN A CAST FOR 5 MONTHS CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT?
anyways im good now still hurts sometimes but at least i can walk now
