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Is it Ever Okay to Blame a Victim?
On facing harassment from medical staff just before surgery.
“So, do you think you’ll be doing that again?”
“I bet you’ll think twice after this, huh?”
“I know someone who had this happen to, and they never recovered. What do you think about that?”
It was minutes before the operation and these were the questions the surgeon, anesthesiologist and nurse were lobbying in their smug way.
Were they asking-
- a rape victim if they wouldn’t walk alone anymore?
- a football player if he would still play?
- a painter if they would no longer climb a ladder?
No, they were asking my son if he would continue to ride a motorcycle. I get that motorcycles are more dangerous than cars. They’re also a lot less expensive for a struggling college student. He always wears a helmet and a jacket with protective Teflon pieces. It helped to save him.
There is video footage of my son being thrown in the air after a car hit him while making a left turn into his lane. The footage goes on to show him trying to drag himself out of the intersection while cars continued to drive by. He had a shattered femur on one leg and ultimately would need a skin…
