New update on Tomas Young

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3635360

They want to run a test tomorrow so he won't be coming to Chicago until Monday. He is coming by ambulance because the plane was too expensive. A 10 hour trip in an ambulance for a veteran who should be riding on a jet for a one hour trip.

:mad:

I can't even type I am so angry. Please if you know anyone in Chicago, ask them to go by and visit Tomas. He'll be there a month.

Thanks DU.

practice their flying skills? Any bases in Chicago? This is disgusting.

I hate this country and what we have become.

Tomas is so worth helping but this is insane - all the arrangements are being made by his mom and Phil Donahue. The VA isn't doing diddly squat or paying for any of this either.

:mad:

the base where the B1 bombers are based is 40 miles from KC.

But they need those bombers for killing Iraqis :mad:

situation. There's got to be a kind soul out there who would do something for Tomas if they knew about him. Medevac from a major hospital in Chicago? I'm just thinking out loud, but I share your anger.

Tomas calls him Uncle Phil. :)

Surely he has thought this out. But if I had his number I would call and make this suggestion. Next time I talk to Cathy I will mention it.

There will be the EMS folk to pay, and possibly a nurse. Not to mention the pain and suffering of someone needing medical care who has to endure that long a trip. Ugh. So stupid-- it may cause complications. It's no simple thing for someone paralyzed (and in need of rehab) to be moved, even by airplane. But to subject him to 10 hours? That's inhumane.

My cousin is a quadraplegic and she's flown on commercial flights, with her parents and a home care worker for far less than that. But monetary cost aside, there are health risks to a paralyzed person being in an ambulance that long. Think about how the blood pools in your extremities when you sit in a car for that long-- but even if you don't realize it, you're shifting your body slightly the entire trip to keep the blood moving. He won't be able to do that. My cousin is moved hourly and her limbs exercised to keep tone, and her bed rocks to keep the blood moving. How will they do that within the confines of an ambulance?

I wish I had 10 grand to make the plane trip a reality. It sucks that our vets aren't getting first class care. If the president were suddenly paralyzed do you think they'd make him go on a 10 hour ambulance trip? And fund it himself? Fuck the VA, really. There are animals in our country that are getting better health care.

I just know that this so sucks.

visit him. I'm new, though, and don't have enough posts to pm you, as I've just been told by the mods.

If you can find a way to reach me, let me know.

He will be at Northwestern - a rehab hospital. Sorry I don't know the exact name.

I will post more info when I have it.

there are quite a few hospitals and other entities in the northwestern system.
drop me a note when you get the info. i will try to get down there to see them.

It's a hospital that is the best rehab facility in the country. Does that help?

the rehabilitation institute of chicago. they are right next door to the big northwestern hospital downtown. i know they have some relationships. i googled to see if their was some acquisition that i missed, but didn't see it. this is the one that has been rated best in the country for so long it is almost part of the name.
http://www.ric.org/index.aspx

They said it was the #1 rehab hospital in the US for many many years now.

:shrug: Guess not... :grr: Fucking old Lumpy McSame's C has one. But I guess she's busy flying around Arizona. Fuck her!

Don't adopt McSame's horrible epithet (his "c"?)for his wife...It only punishes her (and women in general) for his disrespect.

That being said, I don't know what's wrong with her for putting up with that shit --especially in public -- She's independently wealthy...Must be low self-esteem.

Were it someone of mine, I would not only have slapped him silly, I would have held a press conference to publicize his remark and ruin his career...What a prick.

:shrug:

he gets here. I promise that NW Indiana CodePink, Chicago CodePink, IVAW, Vets for Peace - we'll all be there as often as possible. In fact, one of the Veterans for Peace in that picture from the other thread lives in Chicago and I guarantee that he will make sure Tomas has lots of visitors.

I appreciate the detailed update on Tomas.
Tomas has charmed me completely after seeing him in 'Boy of War'. The second showing I went to was in Princeton, NJ and Phil told the audience what had happened to Tomas. It was upsetting for my friends and I and we have been searching for someone who may know what is happening to him.
What has happened to Tomas regarding the shoddy medical care he is receiving is inexcusable.
My friends and I are keeping him in our thoughts and will make use of any mailing addresses for him so please update when he is in Chicago next week. Thank you.