irfner
Campaign Veteran
imported post
Yesterday I had the good fortune to attend a class for caregiving. The class was also attended by a very traumatized lady who was attempting to help her adult son.For the last ten yearshe has beenblind and suffering from brain damage. He lives on his ownbut frequentlyhas bouts of anger and depression. Heoften refuses help and can be quite obnoxious about it. It seems her whole family has been severely disrupted by him. The story of how this came about is quite heart wrenching. I will try to repeat it here as well as I can remember.
Arriving home at his Lakewood apartment from work this young man entered to find his girlfriend on the floor bleeding from severe head wounds and other trauma. As he bent over to try to assist her he was attacked from behind. His skull was crushed in several places and he was stabbed. Both of his eyes weregouged out. It was laterrevealed this was done so that in the unlikely event he lived he would not be able to identify the perpetrators, though they made every effort to make sure he and his girlfriendwere beaten to death. A neighbor hearing the commotion and the screams called the police. But the BGs got away.
After months in a coma both victims lived. Both had crushed skulls and suffered permanent brain damage. He of course is blind. They hadtwo children who were never able to live with their parents again. And they of course are no longer together. Their lives and those of their family members have been miserable ever sense. Though they have their whole lives in front of them none of the people involved in this will everbe normal again. Any happiness they might achieve will always be tempered by the outcome of this event.
Whenthe bad guys were finally caught. One was in jail in California for committing a similar crime there. They got ten years and are due to get out soon. The victims are concerned they may become targets and are living in fear. Who can blame they?
What if the young man had been armed? What if the neighbor had been armed? What if the girlfriend was armed? What if 911 had responded sooner? There are no answers to these questions. But if you need a reason to carry and carry at home go back and read this again.
Yesterday I had the good fortune to attend a class for caregiving. The class was also attended by a very traumatized lady who was attempting to help her adult son.For the last ten yearshe has beenblind and suffering from brain damage. He lives on his ownbut frequentlyhas bouts of anger and depression. Heoften refuses help and can be quite obnoxious about it. It seems her whole family has been severely disrupted by him. The story of how this came about is quite heart wrenching. I will try to repeat it here as well as I can remember.
Arriving home at his Lakewood apartment from work this young man entered to find his girlfriend on the floor bleeding from severe head wounds and other trauma. As he bent over to try to assist her he was attacked from behind. His skull was crushed in several places and he was stabbed. Both of his eyes weregouged out. It was laterrevealed this was done so that in the unlikely event he lived he would not be able to identify the perpetrators, though they made every effort to make sure he and his girlfriendwere beaten to death. A neighbor hearing the commotion and the screams called the police. But the BGs got away.
After months in a coma both victims lived. Both had crushed skulls and suffered permanent brain damage. He of course is blind. They hadtwo children who were never able to live with their parents again. And they of course are no longer together. Their lives and those of their family members have been miserable ever sense. Though they have their whole lives in front of them none of the people involved in this will everbe normal again. Any happiness they might achieve will always be tempered by the outcome of this event.
Whenthe bad guys were finally caught. One was in jail in California for committing a similar crime there. They got ten years and are due to get out soon. The victims are concerned they may become targets and are living in fear. Who can blame they?
What if the young man had been armed? What if the neighbor had been armed? What if the girlfriend was armed? What if 911 had responded sooner? There are no answers to these questions. But if you need a reason to carry and carry at home go back and read this again.