WHAT: In the span of just 30 minutes last night, 13 Chicagoans were injured due to gunshot in what continues to be the worst spate of violence in the nation. A Maywood pastor is holding an anti-violence block party where a mother who lost a son to gunfire and a trauma surgeon from Loyola University Medical Center are among those who will share their firsthand experience with violence.
Dr. Thomas Esposito, chief, Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns, in Loyola’s Department of Surgery, has treated hundreds of gunshot wound victims. “I recently was reunited with a Maywood resident who was shot eight times during an attempted robbery and drove himself to Loyola,” Esposito said. “Our trauma team guided him through a very complex and difficult, but thankfully successful, journey to recovery. While he appears healthy now, he will always have the physical and emotional scars.
Loyola’s Emergency Department cared for 53,000 patients last year with more than 2,000 patients requiring trauma center care and many others with less serious injuries.
Loyola is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in Illinois that is verified by the American College of Surgeons, a distinction held by a select group nationwide.
WHEN: 11:30 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 25
WHERE: St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church, 236 S. 13th Avenue, Maywood
To attend, contact Stasia Thompson at (708) 417-5036
MEET: Dr. Thomas Esposito, who leads the uniquely qualified medical staff at Loyola’s Level 1 Trauma Center
Dozens of Maywood family members, young and old, who want to take back the streets of their neighborhoods.