About three months ago, our family hold a big celebration gathering in our house. One of the invited guests asked to bring with him his daughter who is a senior in the same high school as my daughter. By him, his daughter was sleeping and breathing nursing at all times and wanted to speak with me. Ok? - sure, of course.
Three days before the party, the daughter called me and requested that, since she is a vegan and "abhorred" by anything which can be even remotely related to "disrespect of life", all food must be strictly vegan for everyone. I pretty much signed it off and asked her to bring whatever she would enjoy except for mushrooms, nuts and chocolate, to which I am so allergic that anything of that kind is banned from my house, period. She argued for a while about "organic and GMO-free food cannot cause allergy" and some pseudo-scientific stuff she read somewhere on Internet, but we kind of settled down at the above. I thought she understood what it was all about as I told her everything in very plain and unequivocal terms.
At the day of the party, everything began cool and the girl was chatting with me to no end about her love to nursing, making change, etc., that she volunteered everywhere, got her science grades on top, the stuff. She told me where she wanted to apply - in two local community colleges ADN programs, both of them highly ranked and graduating excellent nurses. Asked for a letter, I said ok, will write you one, huney. Everything went smooth till I asked her to help me to bring dessert. She wanted to cut the cake and serve it individually, I agreed and she brought pieces to the table. The cake I baked myself. I started to eat... next thing I know, I was in ICU hooked to the vent, with two chest tubes, and it was over 3 days later. I went into anaphylaxy right then and there, had a full arrest. The girl, who, of course, never saw what a "code" really was with its inherent violence, was so terrified that she started to cry hysterically and admitted to paramedics that she added powdered mix of nuts and dried mushrooms to my slice of cake in order to prove that "organic" stuff was safe. She and her dad pretty much run away right after.
Spent 2 weeks in hospital, 3 months after still needing oxygen at times, still in pain from multiple ribs fractures, all the shabang plus, of course, large bills to pay and a new job I signed on right before it all happened is getting nearer. The girl or her dad did not call even once.
Quick ahead, a few days ago the high school my daughter and the girl in question both attend, made a show of the best college admission essays class 2020. They do it every year. My daughter spotted the essay written by that girl. She described in great colors how she "by a touch of luck" was exposed to a "real life-saving situation" in the form of CPR in the field, how she "found the name of the injured person" and helped all along (outright lie), how it influenced her wish to save humankind and fueled her dream to became a nurse which she first experienced right after she got out of diapers, and so forth. It was excellently written with large number of details. By these details, I know she meant my code. I have a copy of the essay and, by other details and her previous talk, I know where she applied.
Now, I am torn. On the one hand, she is just a silly idealist teenager, as we all were at some point. Life will teach her stuff, and soon enough, as it taught us all. On the other side, I cannot live with the idea that someone so careless regarding others' lives and so convinced in her personal world being the only one truthful and real should be allowed near sick, dependent and helpless. What if she realizes that the flu vaccine is made from innocent, intelligent chicken embrios and starts to inject patients with saline instead of vaccine so not to compromise her vegan worldview? What if she again feeds or injects another person with a known allergen? I know both program directors of two places she can potentially apply to in person; if I call, her nursing dreams will have to wait at least for a while.
I had my dreams killed by others more than once. I hate to do it with another human being. But the girl already proved herself to be unsafe for others.
Yowzers! I'm glad you got that bag and are doing much better! Good luck with the criminal case. It sounds like it will take that to wake both the girl and her parents up.
I kinda actually feel sorry for the girl because obviously her parents are blind to her need to be disciplined, and that sets her up for a very harsh future.
I feel sorry for her too. My career, my life was torn apart by others so many times, I really feel for her. That's why we waited so long with decision to go for criminal charges.
I truly hope that she will grow up and learn to appreciate sanctity of human life.
Any reasonable person who has attended school in the USA has knowledge of allergic reactions. She might choose to believe shooting someone with a flipping,nonGMO gold bullet wouldn’t have caused harm but no one cares.
someone mentioned she sounds like one of those medical professionals that nearly kills people just to save them. Right on.
Most of all she harmed you, significantly. I cannot believe an State’s Attorney wouldn’t seriously consider this case. I’d write a letter to them. I’d have your family write letters, friends etc. Get in writing why they won’t arrest/proceed.
Also be careful with this. I’d be concerned she’d go after you for defamation as this hasn’t been taken up by the authorities.
That would be a fair statement if all she had done was argue rudely with you, the hostess, and tried to mandate her own personal preferences upon your party. But that is not all she did.
Her insolence is pathological.
^^^this.
She may have been a silly ideological and naive teenager at the beginning of this story....but almost killing you and then fabricating a story from that incident to benefit herself, in conjunction with no apparent remorse...is seriously frightening.
Also hoping all is well for you now. It's been a little bit so hoping you are safe and out of harms way given your recent health issues and Covid. Stay safe.
I am doing just fine ? Off oxygen, off most of the meds, back on floor full time on a new job which is the whole way better than the old one. Started to work on walking staircases up as I do not feel safe enough in elevator due to COVID even in N95 and everything else. Hopefully, going back to school soon for acute care certificate. And I got that YSL purse ?
As in my state all schools are officially ended school year and closed and seniors "graduated" full three months ahead of time, I have no idea what happened with the girl who did it except that she got criminal conviction on her record (once the process started, we very quickly settled out of Court, but conviction is still here). So, for foreseeable future, she will not pass any background check with all the sequela. As my daughter said - not even political science undergrad is now open for her.
It is a sad story, I hope nobody else will have to pass through the same. The pain, the helplessness, the anxiety, the torment of two families, the ruined life plans of BOTH sides, six months of recovery... because of one stupid decision. So much hoping she will grow up and mature into responsible adult.
CharleeFoxtrot, BSN, RN
840 Posts
I'm gobsmacked over this whole thing. I am so glad you are physically better and truly wish you a speedy recovery KatieMI!