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Shhhooo. Wee-uuu. Chick, chick, chick. Ese es el sonido de tres especies diferentes de cigarras. Para algunos, esos sonidos son la canción del verano. Otros desearían que los insectos bajaran el volumen. La cacofonía puede ser especialmente irritante para las personas en el espectro autista que tienen sensibilidad auditiva.
Warren Rickly, de 14 años, vive en los suburbios del sur del condado de St. Louis, en Missouri. Warren, que tiene autismo, estaba en la parada del autobús recientemente esperando a su hermano menor cuando el sonido de las cigarras se volvió insoportable.
“Dijo que suena como si siempre hubiera un tren corriendo junto a él”, contó su madre, Jamie Reed.
Warren le dijo que el ruido le dolía.
Desde esta primavera, miles de millones de insectos de ojos rojos han estado saliendo de la tierra en todo el Medio Oeste y el Sureste. Es parte de una rara aparición simultánea de dos camadas de cigarras: una que aparece cada 13 años y la otra cada 17.
Los ruidosos insectos pueden ser estresantes. Las personas con autismo pueden tener sensibilidad a la textura, el brillo y el sonido.
“Creo que la diferencia para las personas con autismo es el nivel de intensidad o lo molestas que pueden ser algunas de estas diferencias sensoriales”, dijo Rachel Follmer, pediatra especializada en desarrollo y comportamiento en el Hospital de Niños Lurie de Chicago.
“Puede llegar a ser tan extremo que puede causar molestias físicas”, dijo.
Cuando un gran grupo de cigarras comienza a cantar, el coro puede ser tan fuerte como el ruido de una moto. Este año, investigadores de la Universidad de Missouri-St. Louis recopilaron niveles de ruido de cigarras tan altos como 86 decibeles, aproximadamente tan fuerte como el sonido de una licuadora.
Eso puede ser estresante, no melódico, agregó Follmer.
Para ayudar a los niños a sobrellevarlo, sugiere explicarles lo que pueden llegar a experimentar antes de una situación ruidosa. En el caso de las cigarras, eso podría significar explicarles qué son, que no pican ni muerden, y que estarán aquí por un corto tiempo.
“Cuando algo es incómodo, no tener poder sobre esa situación puede ser muy aterrador para muchas personas, ya sea que estén en el espectro o no”, dijo Follmer.
La familia de Jamie Reed ha estado usando esta y otras estrategias para ayudar a su hijo. Warren usa auriculares para aislar el ruido, escucha música y ha estado aprendiendo por sí mismo sobre las cigarras.
“Para él, investigar y profundizar en ello creo que lo estabiliza un poco”, dijo Reed.
Antes de que puedan cantar, las cigarras periódicas ninfas mudan y dejan exoesqueletos como estos. El Servicio Forestal de Estados Unidos proyectó que este año surgirían miles de millones de cigarras en el medio oeste y sureste del país.(Zach Dyer/KFF Health News)
Fatima Husain es profesora y neurocientífica en la Universidad de Illinois Urbana-Champaign y estudia cómo procesa el cerebro el sonido. Dijo que las personas con tinnitus también pueden tener problemas con el canto de las cigarras.
El tinnitus, un zumbido u otro ruido en los oídos, es la percepción de una persona del sonido sin una fuente externa.
“Algunas personas dicen que suena como un zumbido, como el viento soplando entre los árboles, o, irónicamente, muchos dicen que suena como cigarras”, dijo Husain.
Según explica Hussein, para la mayoría de las personas con tinnitus, la canción de las cigarras es un ruido de fondo inofensivo. Pero para otras, el zumbido puede impedir una conversación fácil o alterar el sueño. Los que sufren de tinnitus también tienen más probabilidades de tener ansiedad o depresión. Un sonido fuerte y persistente, como el canto de las cigarras, puede empeorar el tinnitus de una persona, agregó.
Sin embargo, no siempre es malo. La canción de las cigarras también puede ser un alivio.
Para algunos, el tinnitus empeora en un ambiente silencioso. Husain dijo que, este año, ha visto informes de pacientes que dicen que la melodía de las cigarras ha sido como un ruido blanco que calma.
“El sonido es lo suficientemente fuerte como para que, de alguna manera, esté ahogando su tinnitus interno”, dijo Husain.
Por muy ruidosas que puedan ser las cigarras, no necesariamente dañarán la audición de nadie, según los Centros para el Control y Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC). La pérdida auditiva se acumula con el tiempo debido a la exposición repetida a sonidos fuertes. Las cigarras no son lo suficientemente ruidosas durante el tiempo suficiente para causar un daño duradero, explicó Husain.
Las fuentes cotidianas de ruido conllevan un riesgo más alto. Husain dijo que la exposición constante a carreteras ruidosas, un aeropuerto, sitios industriales o electrodomésticos como licuadoras y secadores de pelo puede ser una preocupación. Y pueden afectar el bienestar emocional de la persona.
“Si estás expuesto a sonidos muy fuertes durante parte de tu jornada escolar o de trabajo, puede hacerte sentir más estresado; puede hacerte sentir más enojado por las cosas”, dijo.
A diferencia de la carretera o un aeropuerto, las cigarras no estarán aquí por mucho tiempo. La mayoría de la camada actual desaparecerá en las próximas semanas. Justo a tiempo para otro evento ruidoso de verano: el 4 de Julio.
Esas fueron las reacciones de algunas de las 20 víctimas de disparos del desfile del Super Bowl de los Kansas City Chiefs que el jueves 27 de junio recibieron $1.2 millones del fondo #KCStrong, con pagos individuales que van desde $22,000 hasta $100,000.
Chris Rosson, presidente y CEO de United Way of Greater Kansas City, dijo que los pagos ayudarán a estos sobrevivientes, reconociendo al mismo tiempo que la violencia con armas de fuego, como el tiroteo del 14 de febrero, ocurre todos los días en Kansas City, en general en comunidades de bajos ingresos que ya están desprovistas de recursos.
“Al lanzar el fondo, era importante para nosotros apoyar en primer lugar a las víctimas directas de la violencia de ese día, pero también proporcionar recursos financieros críticos a las organizaciones de prevención y respuesta a la violencia, de apoyo de salud mental y a los que proporcionan primeros auxilios”, dijo.
El tiroteo cerca de Union Station, hacia el final de desfile, dejó 24 personas heridas y una muerta: Lisa López-Galván, de 43 años, madre de dos hijos y popular DJ de música tejana.
Desde el tiroteo, algunas víctimas y sus familias han recibido facturas médicas por miles de dólares, por tratamientos en salas de emergencia, viajes en ambulancia, atención médica continua por las heridas de bala o consejería de salud mental.
Algunas todavía están luchando por volver al trabajo y dependen de una confusa red de asistencia de cuentas de GoFundMe y un grupo de iglesias locales.
Erika Nelson, cuya hija de 15 años, Mireya, recibió disparos en la barbilla y el hombro, dijo que el dinero de United Way es una bendición, pero que su hija todavía lucha con las heridas físicas y emocionales de la violencia.
“No me importa cuánto dinero sea. Podría ser un millón de dólares. Podrían ser mil millones. Nunca va a cambiar lo que mi hija vive todos los días”, dijo Nelson. El fondo #KCStrong fue lanzado por United Way el 15 de febrero, impulsado por una primera donación de $200,000 hecha por los Chiefs, la NFL y la familia Hunt, dueña del equipo. La Kauffman Foundation y una persona anónima fueron listados como los principales donantes, con $250,000 cada uno.
Los fondos no tienen restricciones, por lo que pueden usarse para facturas médicas, fondos universitarios para los niños heridos durante el desfile por la victoria de los Chiefs, o cualquier otra cosa que las familias necesiten.
Rosson dijo que el grupo creía que las víctimas y las personas más cercanas a ellas deberían decidir cómo gastar mejor el dinero. “Dar fondos sin restricciones directamente a esas víctimas de disparos verificadas les permite tomar las decisiones que son adecuadas para ellos y su familia, y el camino que seguirán”, dijo.
Sarai Holguín, en la foto frente a su esposo, César, fue una de las 24 personas que sobrevivieron a heridas de bala durante la violencia en el desfile del Super Bowl de los Kansas City Chiefs en febrero. United Way of Greater Kansas City recaudó $2 millones y anunció el 27 de junio que $1,2 millones se destinarán a los sobrevivientes de los disparos. El dinero restante se distribuirá entre grupos comunitarios que trabajan para prevenir la violencia con armas de fuego. (Christopher Smith for KFF Health News)
Kera Mashek, directora de comunicaciones del United Way local, dijo que el dinero cae bajo el paraguas de asistencia basada en necesidades y no estará sujeto a impuestos.
United Way trabajó con la Oficina del Fiscal del condado de Jackson, Missouri, para verificar a las víctimas. Veinte de las 24 víctimas recibieron compensaciones porque dos no aplicaron y un tercero rechazó la donación, dijeron funcionarios de United Way. A una cuarta víctima, no identificada, se le negaron los fondos porque está conectada al caso criminal, según Jean Peters Baker, fiscal del condado de Jackson.
No se nombró a ninguna de las víctimas en el anuncio del 27 de junio.
Emily Tavis dijo que se sentía “más que bendecida y abrumada por el agradecimiento” al recibir la asistencia. Tavis, su pareja, Jacob Gooch Sr., y su hijastro Jacob Gooch Jr. recibieron disparos en el desfile.
“Es un gran alivio poner las facturas al día”, dijo Tavis. Ella ya había comenzado a pagar cuentas de tarjetas de crédito con su parte del pago.
Antonio Arellano, cuyo hijo de 11 años, Samuel, recibió un disparo en el costado, dijo que el dinero fue una “gran ayuda” para la familia. Dijo que Samuel espera unas vacaciones en Florida y boletos de temporada para ver jugar a los Chiefs. Pero estar en grandes multitudes aún es difícil para Samuel, por lo que Arellano dijo que intentarán ir a un juego primero para ver cómo va.
James Lemons, a quien recientemente le extrajeron la bala alojada en su pierna, dijo que agradecía la ayuda y que se siente bendecido, pero también siente que el dinero ya se ha ido. Quiere devolver la ayuda que la familia recibió tras el tiroteo, incluido el dinero que pidió prestado para ayudarlos a mudarse luego que el dueño de la casa que alquilaban la vendiera poco después del desfile.
Más de 80 personas fueron pisoteadas en el caos generado tras los tiroteos, dijo Baker, agregando que también están entre las muchas víctimas del ataque. Sin embargo, no recibirán dinero del fondo.
Chris Rosson (izq.), presidente y director ejecutivo de United Way of Greater Kansas City, y la fiscal del condado de Jackson, Jean Peters Baker, anunciaron el 27 de junio cómo se distribuirían los $2 millones en fondos de #KCStrong a 20 sobrevivientes baleados en el desfile del Super Bowl de los Kansas City Chiefs. Catorce grupos comunitarios también recibirán dinero.(Peggy Lowe/KCUR 89.3)
Las campañas como #KCStrong que surgen tras tiroteos masivos deben equilibrar la distribución del dinero de manera lo suficientemente amplia como para incluir a las personas directamente afectadas sin disipar los recursos disponibles, según Jeff Dion del Mass Violence Survivors Fund. Esta organización sin fines de lucro ha ayudado a comunidades de todo el país a distribuir este tipo de fondos.
Por ejemplo, OneOrlando Fund, que surgió tras el tiroteo en el club nocturno Pulse en 2016, hizo una gama de pagos, incluyendo $350,000 a las familias de cada una de las 49 personas asesinadas, pero también $25,000 a cada una de las 182 personas que estaban en la discoteca pero no resultaron físicamente heridas.
Ese fondo recaudó $29.5 millones en comparación con los $2 millones recaudados en Kansas City.
El fondo de $31.4 millones que se recolectó en Las Vegas en 2017 tras el tiroteo masivo en un concierto con 22,000 asistentes no incluyó pagos a personas que no habían sido heridas.
Cerca de un millón de personas fueron al desfile del Super Bowl en febrero. “Cuando estás manejando dólares reales, tienes que encontrar una manera de poder servir al mayor número de personas con la mayor cantidad de dinero”, dijo Baker.
“Así que creo que esas fueron probablemente algunas de las decisiones que tuvieron que tomarse en este caso, lo cual es difícil, duro, pero también necesario”.
Los grupos comunitarios que recibieron cada uno $59,410, son: AdHoc Group Against Crime; Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City; Center for Conflict Resolution; Guadalupe Centers; Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission; KC Common Good; KC Mothers in Charge; Lyrik’s Institution; Newhouse Domestic Violence Shelter; Rose Brooks Center; Transition Zone; The Battle Within; Uncornered, y University Health.
Otros esfuerzos también han destinado dinero a los sobrevivientes del tiroteo del desfile del Super Bowl. Las cuentas de GoFundMe han recaudado $667,785. Un grupo basado en la fe, llamado “The Church Loves Kansas City”, recaudó $184,500 y hasta ahora ha destinado más de $50,000 a gastos funerarios, procedimientos médicos, asesoramiento y gastos domésticos, dijo Gary Kendall, uno de sus líderes.
On Tuesday, a judge in Michigan blocked some of the state’s lingering restrictions on abortion access, including a mandatory 24-hour waiting period. The ruling comes 19 months after voters added abortion rights to the state constitution in November 2022.
Michigan was one of the first states to protect abortion access at the ballot box after the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022. But the amount of time some abortion restrictions in the state have remained on the books serves as a caution to other states holding similar votes. Election results may not be as clear-cut as you might think.
This year, voters in as many as 12 more states, including Missouri, could weigh in on abortion. Here, as in most of those states, a likely ballot measure would add abortion protections to the state constitution.
Abortions in Missouri have been banned in nearly every circumstance since the Dobbs ruling. But the procedure was largely halted here years earlier by a series of laws designed to make abortions scarce. These laws are sometimes called “targeted regulation of abortion providers,” or TRAP, laws.
By 2021, the last full year before Dobbs opened the door for Missouri’s ban, the state recorded only 150 abortions, down from 5,772 in 2011.
Even if Missouri voters enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution this year, state regulations such as a 72-hour waiting period and minimum dimensions for procedure rooms and hallways in clinics that provide abortions would remain on the books.
Such laws likely wouldn’t be overturned legislatively under a Republican-controlled legislature and governor’s office. But they will surely face legal challenges, which could take a while.
The lawsuit that led to Tuesday’s ruling in Michigan, for example, was filed 15 months after voters added abortion protections to the state’s constitution.
The delay had a purpose, according to Elisabeth Smith, state policy and advocacy director at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the lawsuit: It afforded the Democratic-led legislature time to act. It’s often more effective to change laws through the legislature than through litigation because the courts can only strike down a law, not replace one.
Michigan did pass an abortion rights package that was signed into law by the state’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, in December. But the package left some regulations intact, including the mandatory waiting period, mandatory counseling and a ban on abortions by non-doctor clinicians, such as nurse practitioners and midwives.
Abortion opponents such as Katie Daniel, state policy director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, are critical of the Michigan lawsuit and such policy unwinding efforts.
“The litigation proves these amendments go farther than they will ever admit in a 30-second commercial,” Daniel said.
Of the seven states that have voted on abortion since Dobbs, Ohio may be the most politically similar to Missouri.
Last year, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, an antiabortion Republican, said passing an amendment to protect abortion rights would upend at least 10 state laws limiting abortions.
Voters passed the measure with nearly 57 percent of the vote, but most of those state laws — including a 24-hour waiting period and a 20-week abortion ban — continue to govern Ohio health providers.
This article is not available for syndication due to republishing restrictions. If you have questions about the availability of this or other content for republication, please contact NewsWeb@kff.org.
Those were reactions from some of the 20 gunshot victims from the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade shootings who were awarded $1.2 million from the #KCStrong fund on Thursday, with individuals receiving payments ranging from $22,000 to $100,000.
Chris Rosson, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Kansas City, said the payouts will help these survivors even while recognizing that gun violence like the Feb. 14 shootings happens in Kansas City every day, typically in low-income communities that are already under-resourced.
“When launching the fund, it was important for us to support first and foremost direct victims of the violence of that day, but also to drive critical financial resources to violence prevention and response organizations, to mental health supports, into first responders,” he said.
The shootings at the end of the rally near Union Station left 24 people injured and one dead. Lisa Lopez-Galvan, 43, a mother of two and a popular Tejano DJ, was killed.
Since the shootings, some victims and their families have incurred thousands of dollars in medical bills for emergency room treatment, ambulance rides, ongoing medical care for bullet wounds, or mental health counseling. Some are still struggling to return to work and are relying on a confusing patchwork of assistance from GoFundMe accounts and a group of local churches.
Erika Nelson, whose 15-year-old daughter, Mireya, was shot in the chin and shoulder at the parade, said that the money from the United Way is a blessing but that her daughter still struggles with the physical and emotional wounds of the violence.
“I don’t care how much money it is. It could be a million dollars. It could be a billion dollars. It’s never going to change what my daughter goes through every day,” Nelson said.
The #KCStrong fund was launched by the United Way on Feb. 15, fueled by a first donation of $200,000 made by the Chiefs, the NFL, and the Hunt family, which owns the team. The Kauffman Foundation and an anonymous person were listed as the top donors with $250,000 each.
The funds are unrestricted, so they can be used for medical bills, college funds for the children injured during the victory celebration, or anything else families need. Rosson said the group believed the victims and the people closest to them should decide how best to spend the money.
“Giving unrestricted funding directly to those verified gunshot victims allows them to make the decisions that are right for them and their family and their path forward,” he said.
Sarai Holguin, standing in front of her husband, Cesar, was one of 24 people who survived gunshot wounds during violence at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade in February. The United Way of Greater Kansas City raised $2 million in the aftermath and announced June 27 that $1.2 million will go to gunshot survivors. The remaining money will go to community groups working to prevent gun violence.(Christopher Smith for KFF Health News)
Kera Mashek, communications director of the local United Way, said the money falls under the umbrella of needs-based assistance and won’t be taxed.
United Way worked with the Jackson County, Missouri, Prosecutor’s Office to verify victims. Only 20 of the 24 victims were compensated because two did not apply and a third turned down the donation, United Way officials said. A fourth, unnamed victim was denied funds because he is connected to the criminal case, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.
None of the victims were named in the June 27 announcement.
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Emily Tavis said she felt “beyond blessed and overwhelmed with appreciation” to receive the assistance. Tavis; her partner, Jacob Gooch Sr.; and stepson, Jacob Gooch Jr., were all shot at the parade.
“It’s a huge relief that bills are going to get caught up and paid and then some,” Tavis said. She had already started paying off credit card bills with her portion of the payout.
Antonio Arellano, whose 11-year-old son, Samuel, was shot in the side, said the money was a “really big help” for the family.
He said Samuel is hoping for a vacation to Florida and season tickets to see the Chiefs play football. But being in large crowds is still difficult for Samuel, so Arellano said they’ll try attending one game first to see how it goes.
James Lemons, who recently had the bullet lodged in his leg removed, said he appreciated the aid and feels blessed, but also feels as if the money is already gone. He wants to pay back the assistance the family received in the aftermath of the shooting, including money he borrowed to help them relocate after their landlord sold their rental home soon after the parade.
More than 80 people were trampled in the melee after the shootings, Baker said, adding that they are also among the many victims of the attack. They will not, however, receive money from the fund.
Chris Rosson (left), president and CEO of United Way of Greater Kansas City, and Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker on June 27 announced how the $2 million in #KCStrong funds would be disbursed to 20 gunshot survivors of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade. Fourteen community groups will also be receiving money.(Peggy Lowe/KCUR 89.3)
Campaigns like #KCStrong that emerge in the wake of mass shootings must balance distributing the money broadly enough to include people directly affected without dissipating the available resources, according to Jeff Dion of the Mass Violence Survivors Fund. The nonprofit organization has helped communities across the country distribute such funds.
The OneOrlando Fund, which emerged after the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, for example, made a range of payments, including $350,000 to the families of each of the 49 people killed, but also $25,000 each to 182 people who were at the nightclub but weren’t physically injured. That fund raised $29.5 million compared with the $2 million raised in Kansas City.
The $31.4 million fund that emerged in Las Vegas in 2017 after a mass shooting at a concert with 22,000 attendees did not include payments to people who were not injured. As many as 1 million people attended the Super Bowl parade in February.
“When you’re dealing with actual dollars, you have to find a way to be able to serve the most people with the most amount of money,” Baker said. “So I think that was probably some of the decisions that had to be reached in this case, which is difficult, hard, but also necessary.”
The community groups, which each received $59,410, are: AdHoc Group Against Crime; Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City; Center for Conflict Resolution; Guadalupe Centers; Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission; KC Common Good; KC Mothers in Charge; Lyrik’s Institution; Newhouse Domestic Violence Shelter; Rose Brooks Center; Transition Zone; The Battle Within; Uncornered; and University Health.
Other efforts have directed money to survivors of the Super Bowl parade shooting as well. GoFundMe accounts have raised $667,785. A faith-based group called “The Church Loves Kansas City” raised $184,500 and so far has spent more than $50,000 in funeral expenses, medical procedures, counseling, and living expenses, said Gary Kendall, one of the leaders.
ST. LOUIS — Shhhooo. Wee-uuu. Chick, chick, chick. That’s the sound of three different cicada species. For some people, those sounds are the song of the summer. Others wish the insects would turn it down. The cacophony can be especially irritating for people on the autism spectrum who have hearing sensitivity.
Warren Rickly, 14, lives in suburban south St. Louis County, Missouri. Warren, who has autism, was at the bus stop recently waiting for his younger brother when the sound of cicadas became too much to bear.
“He said it sounds like there’s always a train running next to him,” his mother, Jamie Reed, said.
Warren told her the noise hurt.
Starting this spring, trillions of the red-eyed insects crawled their way out of the ground across the Midwest and Southeast. It’s part of a rare simultaneous emergence of two broods — one that appears every 13 years, the other every 17.
The noisy insects can be stressful. People with autism can have a sensitivity to texture, brightness, and sound.
“I think the difference for individuals with autism is the level of intensity or how upsetting some of these sensory differences are,” said Rachel Follmer, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.
“It can get to the extreme where it can cause physical discomfort,” she said.
When a large group of cicadas starts to sing, the chorus can be as loud as a motorcycle. Researchers at the University of Missouri-St. Louis this year crowdsourced cicada noise levels as high as 86 decibels, about as loud as a food blender.
That can be stressful, not melodic, Follmer said.
To help children cope, she suggests giving them a primer before they encounter a noisy situation. For cicadas, that could mean explaining what they are, that they don’t bite or sting, and that they’ll be here for just a short time.
“When something is uncomfortable, not having power in that situation can be very scary for a lot of individuals, whether you’re on the spectrum or not,” Follmer said.
Before they can sing, periodical cicada nymphs molt and leave behind exoskeletons like these. The U.S. Forest Service projected that trillions of cicadas would emerge this year across the Midwestern and Southeastern United States.(Zach Dyer/KFF Health News)
Jamie Reed’s family has been using this and other strategies to help her son. Warren wears noise-canceling headphones, listens to music, and has been teaching himself about cicadas.
“For him, researching it and looking into it I think grounds him a little bit,” Reed said.
Fatima Husain is a professor and neuroscientist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and studies how the brain processes sound. She said people with tinnitus may also struggle with cicada song.
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Tinnitus, a ringing or other noise in the ears, is a person’s perception of sound without an external source.
“Some people say it sounds like buzzing, like wind blowing through trees, and ironically, quite a few people say it sounds like cicadas,” Husain said.
For most people with tinnitus the cicada’s song is harmless background noise, according to Husain, but for others the ringing can prevent easy conversation or sleep. Those with tinnitus are also more likely to have anxiety or depression. A loud persistent sound, like singing cicadas, can make someone’s tinnitus worse, Husain said.
It’s not always bad, though. The cicada’s song can also be a relief.
Kasey Fowler-Finn holds a red-eyed periodical cicada outside St. Louis on May 31.(Zach Dyer/KFF Health News)
For some, tinnitus gets worse in a quiet environment. Husain said she’s seen reports this year of patients saying the cicadas’ song has been like soothing white noise.
“The sound is loud enough that in some ways it’s drowning their internal tinnitus,” Husain said.
As loud as the cicadas can be, they won’t necessarily damage anyone’s hearing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hearing loss builds up over time from repeated exposure to loud sounds. Cicadas aren’t loud enough for long enough to do lasting damage, Husain said.
Everyday sources of noise come with a higher risk. Husain said constant exposure to loud highways, an airport, industrial sites, or household appliances like blenders and hair dryers can be a concern. And they can take a toll on someone’s emotional well-being.
“If you are being exposed to very loud sounds for a part of your school day or your working day, it may make you more stressed out; it may make you more angry about things,” she said.
Unlike the highway or an airport, cicadas won’t be around long. Most of the current brood will be gone in the next few weeks. Just in time for another noisy summer event: the Fourth of July.
Abigail Arellano tiene todas las facturas médicas de su hijo Samuel en una carpeta azul en un armario arriba del microondas. Incluso ahora, cuatro meses después que el niño de 11 años fuera herido de bala en el desfile del Super Bowl de los Kansas City Chiefs, las facturas siguen llegando.
Hay una de $1,040 por el traslado en ambulancia al hospital aquella tarde de febrero. Otra de $2,841,17 por una visita a la sala de emergencias tres días después del tiroteo porque la herida de bala parecía infectada. En marzo, más seguimientos y consejería agregaron otros $1,500.
“Creo que me faltan algunas”, dijo Arellano mientras hojeaba las páginas.
Los Arellano no tienen seguro y están contando con la asistencia del fondo que recaudó casi $2 millones después del tiroteo que dejó un muerto y al menos 24 personas con heridas de bala. También guarda esa solicitud en la carpeta azul.
Los costos médicos para los sobrevivientes del tiroteo son muy altos y no terminarán pronto. Según un estudio de la Escuela de Medicina de Harvard, el gasto médico promedio para alguien que recibió un disparo se eleva a casi $30,000 el primer año. Otro análisis halló que esa cifra sube a $35,000 en el caso de los niños. Diez menores fueron heridos por balas en el desfile.
Luego están las facturas regulares que forman parte de la vida —alquiler, servicios públicos, reparaciones del auto— que no dejan de llegar solo porque alguien sobrevivió a un tiroteo masivo, incluso si sus lesiones les impiden trabajar o mandar a los niños a la escuela.
La carga financiera que conlleva la supervivencia es tan común que tiene un nombre, según Aswad Thomas de la organización sin fines de lucro Alliance for Safety and Justice: deuda por victimización. Algunos la pagan de su bolsillo. Otros solicitan una nueva tarjeta de crédito. Algunos reciben ayuda de desconocidos generosos. Otros no pueden llegar a fin de mes.
“Ahora mismo estamos realmente en bancarrota”, dijo Jacob Gooch Sr., otro sobreviviente, quien fue herido en el pie y aún no ha podido volver a trabajar.
“Estamos, como, agotando nuestra tercera tarjeta de crédito”.
Samuel Arellano (centro) junto a sus padres, Abigail y Antonio, afuera de su casa en Kansas City, Kansas. La familia no tenía seguro cuando Samuel recibió un disparo en el desfile del Super Bowl de los Kansas City Chiefs en febrero. La familia cuenta con la ayuda del fondo que recaudó casi $2 millones después del tiroteo que dejó un muerto y al menos otras 24 personas con heridas de bala.(Bram Sable-Smith/KFF Health News)
Como es común después de tiroteos masivos, en esta ciudad de Missouri surgió un abanico de recursos nuevos y establecidos prometiendo ayuda. Entre ellos, el fondo #KCStrong creado por United Way of Greater Kansas City, que se espera comience a pagar a las víctimas a finales de junio.
Los sobrevivientes deben navegar cada oportunidad para solicitar ayuda lo mejor que puedan, y esperar que el dinero llegue.
GoFundMe, desconocidos generosos y una nueva línea de crédito
Tradicionalmente, son las mamás quienes mantienen las facturas organizadas. Apiladas sobre el microondas. En una cartera. En capturas de pantalla guardadas en el celular. Y luego hay un laberinto de papeleo: el formulario de compensación para víctimas del estado de Missouri tiene cinco páginas, incluidas las instrucciones. Son otras seis páginas para la ayuda de United Way.
Emily Tavis mantiene pilas de papeleo con diferentes clips de colores en su sótano: negro para su pareja, Gooch Sr.; azul para su hijastro, Jacob Gooch Jr.; rosa para ella misma. Los tres fueron heridos de bala en el desfile.
Tavis pudo volver a caminar después que una bala atravesara su pierna y consideró rechazar el viaje en ambulancia porque estaba preocupada por el costo; en ese momento no tenía seguro.
Gooch Sr. no podía caminar porque le habían disparado en el pie. Así que compartieron una ambulancia al hospital con dos de sus hijos.
“No voy a pagar por esta m…. No pedí esta vida”, recordó Tavis, riendo. Pronto se dieron cuenta que el joven Gooch Jr., de 14 años, también tenía una bala en el pie.
Abigail Arellano guarda la pila de facturas médicas, acumuladas desde que le dispararon a su hijo, Samuel, de 11 años, en una carpeta azul en un gabinete encima del microondas en la cocina. (Peggy Lowe/KCUR 89.3)
Samuel Arellano (centro) levanta su camiseta con la ayuda de su madre, Abigail Arellano (izq.), y su tía Eunice Salas (der.), para mostrar en dónde le dispararon en el desfile del Super Bowl de los Kansas City Chiefs en febrero. (Bram Sable-Smith/KFF Health News)
Tavis y Gooch Sr. recibieron facturas separadas de $1,145 por la ambulancia. Gooch Jr. no, posiblemente porque tiene cobertura de salud a través de Medicaid, dijo Tavis.
Ella envía las facturas médicas a la compensación para víctimas, un programa para ayudar con las pérdidas económicas derivadas de un crimen, como los gastos médicos y los salarios perdidos. Aunque Tavis y Gooch viven en Leavenworth, Kansas, su compensación proviene del programa en Missouri, donde ocurrió el tiroteo.
El programa paga solo por pérdidas económicas no cubiertas por otras fuentes como el seguro de salud, donaciones y recaudaciones de fondos colectivas. Gooch Sr. y Jr. tenían cobertura médica al momento del desfile, por lo que la familia ha estado enviando solo la porción no cubierta a la compensación para víctimas.
Al principio, la familia recibió mucho apoyo. Amigos y familiares se aseguraron de que tuvieran siempre comida. El fundador de un grupo en línea de fanáticos de los Kansas City Chiefs envió $1,000 y regalos para la familia. Una página de GoFundMe recaudó $9,500. Y su reembolso de impuestos ayudó.
Con Gooch Sr. sin poder trabajar sabían que el dinero podía comenzar a faltar, así que pagaron tres meses de alquiler por adelantado. También gastaron en el arreglo de su Ford Escape para que eventualmente pudiera volver a trabajar y compraron un Honda Accord usado para que Tavis pudiera conducir al trabajo, al que volvió 12 días después del desfile.
Jacob Gooch Sr. y Emily Tavis recibieron una gran cantidad de apoyo emocional y financiero en los días posteriores a que ambos recibieran disparos en el desfile del Super Bowl de los Kansas City Chiefs. El hijo de Gooch también fue herido de bala. Sin embargo, en junio, la pareja había abierto una nueva tarjeta de crédito para ayudar a cubrir sus facturas.(Christopher Smith for KFF Health News)
Y como las donaciones estaban destinadas a toda la familia, decidieron comprar pases de verano para el parque de diversiones Worlds of Fun para los niños.
Pero recientemente, han estado apretados. Los pagos por discapacidad a corto plazo de Gooch Sr. dejaron de llegar abruptamente en mayo cuando su seguro de salud le pidió que viera a un médico de la red. Dijo que el plan de discapacidad a corto plazo inicialmente no aprobó el papeleo de su nuevo médico y comenzó una investigación. El problema se resolvió en junio y espera recibir pagos retroactivos pronto. Mientras tanto, la pareja solicitó una nueva tarjeta de crédito para cubrir sus facturas.
“Definitivamente hemos estado robando a Pedro para pagar a Pablo”, dijo Tavis.
Idealmente, el dinero que llegue de United Way, la compensación para víctimas y, esperan, el pago retroactivo por discapacidad a corto plazo, será suficiente para pagar sus deudas.
Pero, dijo Tavis, “tienes que hacer lo que tienes que hacer. No vamos a quedarnos sin luz”.
Emily Tavis consideró rechazar un viaje en ambulancia después de recibir un disparo en la pierna en el desfile del Super Bowl de los Kansas City Chiefs porque estaba preocupada por el costo. Comenzó un nuevo trabajo 12 días después del desfile, pero incluso ahora que tiene seguro médico a través de su empleo, está en sintonía con los costos de buscar atención.(Christopher Smith for KFF Health News)
Emily Tavis muestra las heridas en su pierna cuatro meses después de recibir un disparo en el desfile del Super Bowl de los Kansas City Chiefs en febrero. (Christopher Smith for KFF Health News)
Jacob Gooch Sr. muestra la trayectoria de la bala que le atravesó el pie en el desfile del Super Bowl de los Kansas City Chiefs. (Bram Sable-Smith/KFF Health News)
Al no poder trabajar después de recibir un disparo en el desfile del Super Bowl de los Kansas City Chiefs en febrero, Jacob Gooch Sr. inicialmente recibió pagos por discapacidad a corto plazo. Pero esa asistencia se detuvo abruptamente en mayo cuando comenzó a ver a un nuevo médico que estaba en la red de su plan médico. El problema se resolvió en junio y pronto espera recibir pagos retroactivos.(Christopher Smith for KFF Health News)
En espera del pago de United Way a fines de junio
Con cada tiroteo masivo, inevitablemente fluyen donaciones para los sobrevivientes, “como la mantequilla con la mermelada, porque la gente quiere ayudar”, dijo Jeff Dion, director ejecutivo del Mass Violence Survivors Fund, una organización sin fines de lucro que ha ayudado a muchas comunidades a gestionar esos fondos.
Dijo que, típicamente, se tarda unos cinco meses en distribuir el dinero de estos grandes fondos comunitarios. Las víctimas pueden recibir dinero antes si su comunidad tiene un plan para estos tipos de fondos antes de un tiroteo masivo.
Los fondos también pueden adelantar dinero a personas con necesidades financieras urgentes que seguramente calificarán.
United Way colgó pancartas con los colores de los Chiefs en la Union Station de Kansas City con su campaña #KCStrong en los días posteriores al tiroteo. Impulsado por grandes donaciones del equipo, la NFL, el mariscal de campo Patrick Mahomes, otros individuos y empresas locales, finalmente recaudó más de $1.8 millones.
La promesa de un gran pago ha mantenido la esperanza de los heridos, incluso cuando a muchos los confundió el proceso. Algunas personas entrevistadas para esta historia no quisieron decir nada negativo, temiendo que pudiera afectar su asignación.
Los funcionarios de United Way anunciaron en abril que las donaciones se cerrarían a fin de mes. El 1 de mayo, la organización publicó un aviso diciendo que emitiría “formularios de reclamación” y que la Oficina del Fiscal del condado de Jackson estaba ayudando a verificar a las víctimas del tiroteo. La junta de fideicomisarios de la filial de United Way planea reunirse el 26 de junio para determinar las asignaciones, con los pagos llegando tan pronto como el 27 de junio.
Kera Mashek, vocera de United Way of Greater Kansas City, dijo que los pagos se harán a 20 de los 24 sobrevivientes del tiroteo. Los otros cuatro no pudieron ser verificados como víctimas o rechazaron los fondos, dijo. Agregó que los solicitantes no incluyen a las 67 personas que los fiscales dicen fueron pisoteadas en el tumulto.
Pendiente de la aprobación de la junta, el dinero también se distribuirá a 14 grupos comunitarios que apoyan iniciativas de no violencia, preocupaciones de salud mental y socorristas, dijo Mashek.
Ante las críticas de que United Way no se comunicó bien con las víctimas, Mashek dijo que intentaron responder de manera oportuna.
“Hemos tratado de mantener esta línea de comunicación abierta lo más rápido posible y la mayoría de la gente ha sido muy paciente”, dijo. “Creo que estarán muy agradecidos y, creo, gratamente sorprendidos con la cantidad de fondos que recibirán”.
Los visitantes de Union Station en Kansas City, Missouri, el 19 de febrero de 2024, observan el monumento creado tras el tiroteo en la celebración del Super Bowl de los Chiefs.(Carlos Moreno/KCUR 89.3)
Otros recursos disponibles
Abigail Arellano no había oído hablar de la compensación para víctimas, lo cual es común. Una encuesta de 2022 de la Alliance for Safety and Justice encontró que el 96% de las víctimas no recibían ese apoyo y muchas no sabían que existía.
Arellano y su esposo, Antonio, no fueron al desfile, pero también han tenido gastos médicos. Antonio ha estado yendo a terapia en un centro de salud local para ayudar con la tarea estresante de guiar a su hijo a través del trauma. Ha sido útil. Pero ha estado pagando unos $125 de su bolsillo por cada sesión, dijo, y las facturas se están acumulando.
Una de las hermanas de Samuel creó un GoFundMe que recaudó $12,500, y Abigail dijo que ayudó que la familia compartiera su historia públicamente y que Abigail se pusiera en contacto para ayudar a otros en la comunidad latina afectada por el tiroteo.
De hecho, fue Abigail quien conectó a Sarai Holguín, de 71 años, con el consulado de México en Kansas City. El consulado, a su vez, ayudó a Holguín a registrarse como víctima oficial del tiroteo, lo que le permitirá recibir asistencia de United Way. Las facturas de Holguín ahora incluyen una cuarta cirugía, para quitar la bala alojada cerca de su rodilla con la que había hecho las paces de “vivir para siempre”, hasta que comenzó a sobresalir a través de su piel.
Alivio “generoso y rápido” para las víctimas
Varios sobrevivientes se sintieron aliviados y agradecidos de recibir fondos de un grupo menos conocido y no confesional llamado “The Church Loves Kansas City”.
El día después del tiroteo, Gary Kendall, quien dirigía una organización cristiana sin fines de lucro llamada “Love KC”, comenzó una cadena de mensajes de texto a las 6 am con líderes de la ciudad y grupos de fe, y eventualmente recibió promesas de $184,500. (Love KC ahora se ha fusionado con otra organización sin fines de lucro, “Unite KC”, que está distribuyendo sus fondos).
El primer pago fue para la familia de la popular DJ Lisa López-Galván, de 43 años y con dos hijos, quien fue la única fatalidad durante el tiroteo del desfile. Unite KC pagó $15,000 en sus gastos de entierro.
Unite KC gastó $2,800 para que James y Brandie Lemons pudieran recuperar su seguro de salud porque James no podía trabajar. Unite KC también pagó $2,200 de su bolsillo por los costos quirúrgicos cuando James decidió que le quitaran la bala de su pierna.
“Lo aprecio”, dijo un emocional James Lemons. “No tienen que hacer esto, abrir sus corazones sin razón”.
James Lemons, quien recibió un disparo en el muslo derecho, el 7 de junio, el día en que le quitaron los puntos después de una cirugía para extraer la bala alojada en su pierna. Unite KC ayudó a la familia de Lemons con pagos al seguro para que puedan sobrevivir hasta que Lemons regrese a trabajar.(Peggy Lowe/KCUR 89.3)
Erika Nelson estaba luchando para pagar los gastos de su casa, y tuvo que tomarse tiempo libre de su trabajo de atención médica a domicilio para llevar a su hija herida, Mireya, de 15 años, a las citas médicas. Mireya recibió disparos en la barbilla y el hombro, y se está recuperando.
Una página de GoFundMe creada por la mejor amiga de Nelson recaudó alrededor de $11,000, pero fue congelada después que Nelson intentara ingresar a la cuenta y GoFundMe pensó que estaba siendo hackeada. Temía que cortaran la luz en su apartamento por las facturas de electricidad no pagas y estaba desesperada.
“Estoy luchando con, ya sabes, comestibles”, dijo Nelson. “La gente decía, ‘Oh, ve a los bancos de alimentos’. Bueno, los bancos de alimentos no están abiertos en los momentos que puedo salir. No puedo simplemente irme del trabajo para ir a un banco de alimentos”.
Después de reunirse con Gary Kendall, Nelson recibió dinero para pagar tres meses de renta y servicios públicos, alrededor de $3,500.
“Un peso menos sobre mis hombros. Quiero decir, sí. De una gran forma”, susurró. “Porque nunca sabes. Nunca sabes qué puede pasar en dos días, cinco días, dos semanas, dos meses”.
Recientemente, la familia de Samuel Arellano se conectó con Unite KC, que pagará su factura de ambulancia, una de las cuentas del hospital y algo de terapia, por un valor de unos $6,000. La factura por el traslado inicial a la sala de emergencias era de aproximadamente $20,000, dijeron sus padres, pero el hospital se mostró reacio a enviarla y finalmente cubrió el costo.
Y Unite KC también tiene la intención de pagar una factura de tarjeta de crédito de $1,300 para Emily Tavis y Jacob Gooch Sr.
Hasta ahora, Unite KC ha distribuido $40,000, y espera conectarse con más de las familias heridas, con la esperanza de ser tan “generosos y rápidos como podamos”, dijo Kendall. United Way será como un “ráfaga” de alivio para las víctimas, agregó, pero su grupo apunta a algo diferente, más como una fogata que arda durante el próximo año.
“Estamos de acuerdo en que esto es algo horrible que sucedió. Es un triste estado de la humanidad pero es una parte real”, dijo. “Así que queremos recordarles que Dios no los ha olvidado. Y que aunque permitió esto, no los ha abandonado. Creemos que podemos ser como una extensión de su amor para estas personas”.
Abigail Arellano keeps her son Samuel’s medical bills in a blue folder in a cabinet above the microwave. Even now, four months after the 11-year-old was shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade, the bills keep coming.
There’s one for $1,040 for the ambulance ride to the hospital that February afternoon. Another for $2,841.17 from an emergency room visit they made three days after the shooting because his bullet wound looked infected. More follow-ups and counseling in March added another $1,500.
“I think I’m missing some,” Arellano said as she leafed through the pages.
The Arellanos are uninsured and counting on assistance from the fund that raised nearly $2 million in the aftermath of the shooting that left one dead and at least 24 other people with bullet wounds. She keeps that application in the blue folder as well.
The medical costs incurred by the survivors of the shooting are hitting hard, and they won’t end soon. The average medical spending for someone who is shot increases by nearly $30,000 in the first year, according to a Harvard Medical School study. Another study found that number goes up to $35,000 for children. Ten kids were shot at the parade.
Then there are life’s ordinary bills — rent, utilities, car repairs — that don’t stop just because someone survived a mass shooting, even if their injuries prevent them from working or sending kids to school.
Samuel Arellano (center) stands with his parents, Abigail and Antonio, outside their home in Kansas City, Kansas. The family was uninsured when Samuel was shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade in February. The family is counting on assistance from the fund that raised nearly $2 million in the aftermath of the shooting that left one dead and at least 24 other people with bullet wounds.(Bram Sable-Smith/KFF Health News)
Abigail Arellano keeps the stack of medical bills — amassed since her son, Samuel, 11, was shot — in a blue folder in a cabinet above the microwave in the family’s kitchen. (Peggy Lowe/KCUR 89.3)
Samuel Arellano (center) lifts his shirt with help from his mother, Abigail Arellano (left), and aunt Eunice Salas (right), to reveal where he was shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade in February. (Bram Sable-Smith/KFF Health News)
The financial burden that comes with surviving is so common it has a name, according to Aswad Thomas of the nonprofit Alliance for Safety and Justice: victimization debt. Some pay it out-of-pocket. Some open a new credit card. Some find help from generous strangers. Others can’t make ends meet.
“We’re really broke right now,” said Jacob Gooch Sr., another survivor, who was shot through the foot and has not yet been able to return to work.
“We’re, like, exhausting our third credit card.”
As is common after mass shootings, a mosaic of new and established resources emerged in this Missouri city promising help. Those include the #KCStrong fund established by the United Way of Greater Kansas City, which is expected to begin paying victims at the end of June.
Survivors must navigate each opportunity to request help as best they can — and hope money comes through.
GoFundMes, Generous Strangers, and a New Line of Credit
Mostly, it’s the moms who keep the bills organized. Tucked above the microwave. Zipped inside a purse. Screenshots stored on a phone. And then there’s a maze of paperwork: The Missouri state victims’ compensation form is five pages, including instructions. It’s another six pages for help from the United Way.
Emily Tavis keeps stacks of paperwork with color-coded binder clips in her basement: Black for her partner, Gooch Sr.; blue for her stepson, Jacob Gooch Jr.; pink for herself. All three were shot at the parade.
Jacob Gooch Sr. and Emily Tavis received an outpouring of emotional and financial support in the days after they were both shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade. Gooch’s son was also shot. By June, however, the couple had opened a new credit card to help cover their bills.(Christopher Smith for KFF Health News)
Tavis was able to walk after a bullet ripped through her leg, and she considered declining the ambulance ride because she was worried about the cost — she lacked insurance at the time.
Gooch Sr. was unable to walk because he’d been shot in the foot. So they shared an ambulance to the hospital with two of their kids.
Tavis and Gooch Sr. received separate $1,145 bills for the ambulance. Gooch Jr. did not, possibly because he has health coverage through Medicaid, Tavis said.
She sends the medical bills to victims’ compensation, a program to help with the economic losses from a crime, such as medical expenses and lost wages. Even though Tavis and Gooch live in Leavenworth, Kansas, their compensation comes from the program in Missouri, where the shooting occurred.
The program pays only for economic losses not covered by other sources like health insurance, donations, and crowdsourced fundraisers. Gooch Sr. and Jr. both had health insurance at the time of the parade, so the family has been sending only the uncovered portion to victims’ compensation.
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The family initially received a lot of support. Friends and relatives made sure they had food to eat. The founder of an online group of Kansas City Chiefs fans sent $1,000 and gifts for the family. A GoFundMe page raised $9,500. And their tax refund helped.
They knew money might get tight with Gooch Sr. unable to work, so they paid three months’ rent in advance. They also paid to have his Ford Escape fixed so he could eventually return to work and bought Tavis a used Honda Accord so she could drive to the job she started 12 days after the parade.
And because the donations were intended for the whole family, they decided to buy summer passes to the Worlds of Fun amusement park for the kids.
But recently, they’ve felt stretched. Gooch Sr.’s short-term disability payments abruptly stopped in May when his health insurance prompted him to see an in-network doctor. He said the short-term disability plan initially didn’t approve the paperwork from his new doctor and started an investigation. The issue was resolved in June and he was expecting back pay soon. In the interim, though, the couple opened a new credit card to cover their bills.
In the interim, the couple opened a new credit card to cover their bills.
Emily Tavis considered declining an ambulance ride after being shot in the leg at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade because she was worried about cost. She started a new job 12 days after the parade, but even now that she has health insurance through work, she is attuned to the costs of seeking care. (Christopher Smith for KFF Health News)
Emily Tavis was shot in the leg at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade. (Christopher Smith for KFF Health News)
Jacob Gooch Sr. shows the trajectory of the bullet that shot through his foot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade. (Bram Sable-Smith/KFF Health News)
Unable to work after being shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade in February, Jacob Gooch Sr. initially received short-term disability payments. But that assistance abruptly stopped in May when he started seeing a new doctor who was in network with his health insurance. The issue was resolved in June and he was expecting back pay soon.(Christopher Smith for KFF Health News)
“We’ve definitely been robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Tavis said.
Ideally, the money that eventually comes from the United Way, victims’ compensation, and, they hope, back pay from short-term disability will be enough to pay off their debts.
But, Tavis said, “You gotta do what you gotta do. We’re not going to go without lights.”
United Way Payout Expected at End of June
With every mass shooting, donations for survivors inevitably flow in, “just like peanut butter goes with jelly, because people want to help,” said Jeff Dion, executive director of the Mass Violence Survivors Fund, a nonprofit that has helped many communities manage such funds.
Typically, he said, it takes about five months to disburse the money from these large community funds. Victims can potentially get money sooner if their community has a plan in place for these types of funds before a mass shooting. Funds may also advance money to people with urgent financial needs who are certain to qualify.
The United Way hung banners in the Chiefs colors on Kansas City’s Union Station with its #KCStrong campaign within days of the shootings. Driven by large donations fromthe team, the NFL, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, other individuals, and local companies, it ultimately raised more than $1.8 million.
The promise of a large payout has kept the injured hopeful, even as many felt confused by the process. Some people interviewed for this story did not wish to say anything negative, fearing it would hurt their allocation.
Visitors at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on Feb. 19 look at the memorial set up following the shooting at the Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration.(Carlos Moreno/KCUR 89.3)
United Way officials announced in April that donations would be closed at the end of that month. On May 1, the organization posted a notice saying it would issue “claimant forms” and that the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office was helping verify shooting victims. The United Way affiliate’s board of trustees plans to meet June 26 to determine allocations, with payments arriving as early as June 27.
Kera Mashek, a spokesperson for United Way of Greater Kansas City, said payouts will be made to 20 of the 24 shooting survivors. The other four either couldn’t be verified as victims or turned down the funds, she said. Claimants do not include the 67 people prosecutors say were trampled in the melee, she said.
Pending board approval, money will also be disbursed to 14 community groups that support nonviolence initiatives, mental health concerns, and first responders, Mashek said.
To criticism that the United Way didn’t communicate well with the victims, Mashek said it tried to respond in a timely manner.
“We’ve tried to keep that line of communication open as fast as possible and most people have been very patient,” she said. “I think that they will be very grateful and very, I believe, pleasantly surprised with the amount of funding that they receive.”
Other Resources Available
Abigail Arellano hadn’t heard of victims’ compensation, which is common. A 2022 survey from the Alliance for Safety and Justice found that 96% of victims did not receive that support and many didn’t know it existed.
Arellano and her husband, Antonio, didn’t attend the parade but they’ve had medical expenses as well. Antonio has been going to therapy at a local health center to help with the stressful task of guiding his son through the trauma. It’s been helpful. But he’s been paying around $125 out-of-pocket for each session, he said, and the bills are mounting.
One of Samuel’s sisters set up a GoFundMe that raised $12,500, and Abigail said it helped that the family shared their story publicly and that Abigail reached out to help others in the Latino community affected by the shooting.
It was Abigail, for instance, who connected 71-year-old Sarai Holguin with the Mexican Consulate in Kansas City. The consulate, in turn, helped Holguin register as an official victim of the shooting, which will enable her to receive assistance from the United Way. Holguin’s bills now include a fourth surgery, to remove the bullet lodged near her knee that she had previously made peace with living with forever — until it began protruding through her skin.
‘Generous and Quick’ Relief to Victims
Several survivors were relieved and grateful to receive funds from a less high-profile, nondenominational group called “The Church Loves Kansas City.”
The day after the shooting, Gary Kendall, who ran a Christian nonprofit called “Love KC,” started a text chain at 6 a.m. with city leaders and faith-based groups, and eventually received pledges of $184,500. (Love KC has now merged with another nonprofit, “Unite KC,” which is disbursing its funds.)
The first payout went to the family of Lisa Lopez-Galvan, the 43-year-old mother of two and popular DJ who was the sole fatality during the parade shootings. Unite KC spent $15,000 on her burial expenses.
Unite KC spent $2,800 so James and Brandie Lemons could get their health insurance restored because James couldn’t work. Unite KC also paid $2,200 for the out-of-pocket surgical costs when James decided to get the bullet removed from his leg.
“I appreciate it,” an emotional James Lemons said. “They don’t have to do that, to open their hearts for no reason.”
James Lemons, who was shot in the right thigh, on June 7, the day he had his stitches taken out after surgery to remove the bullet lodged in his leg. Lemons’ family was helped by Unite KC with insurance payments to tide them over until Lemons returns to work.(Peggy Lowe/KCUR 89.3)
Erika Nelson was struggling to pay for household expenses and had to take time off from her home health care job to take her injured daughter, 15-year-old Mireya, to doctor appointments. Mireya was shot in the chin and shoulder and is recovering.
A GoFundMe page set up by Nelson’s best friend raised about $11,000, but it was frozen after Nelson tried to get into the account and GoFundMe thought it was being hacked. She feared the lights would be shut off in their apartment, because of unpaid electric bills, and was feeling desperate.
“I’m struggling with, like, you know, groceries,” Nelson said. “People were like, ‘Oh, go to food pantries.’ Well, the food pantries are not open the times I can get off. I can’t just take off work to go to a food pantry.”
After meeting with Gary Kendall, Nelson received three months of rent and utility payments, about $3,500.
“A weight off my shoulder. I mean, yeah. In a big way,” she whispered. “’Cause you never know. You never know what can happen in two days, five days, two weeks, two months.”
Samuel Arellano’s family recently connected with Unite KC, which will pay for his ambulance bill, one of the hospital bills, and some therapy, worth about $6,000. The bill for the initial emergency room trip was about $20,000, his parents said, but the hospital had been reluctant to send it and ultimately covered the cost.
And Unite KC also intends to pay off a $1,300 credit card bill for Emily Tavis and Jacob Gooch Sr.
Unite KC has disbursed $40,000 so far and hopes to connect with more of the injured families, hoping to be as “generous and quick as we can,” Kendall said. United Way will be like a “lightning bolt” for victims’ relief, Kendall said, but his group is aiming for something different, more like a campfire that burns for the next year.
“We agree this is a horrific thing that happened. It’s a sad state of humanity but it’s a real part,” he said. “So we want to remind them that God has not forgotten you. And that although he allowed this, he has not abandoned them. We believe we can be like an extension of his love to these people.”
Anti-abortion advocates are pressing for expanded abortion bans and tighter restrictions since the Supreme Court overturned the national right to abortion. But with the debate mostly deadlocked in Washington, the focus is shifting to states convening their first full legislative sessions since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Although some state GOP lawmakers have filed bills to ban abortion pills or make it more difficult for women to travel out of state for an abortion, others seem split about what their next steps should be. Some are even considering measures to ease their states’ existing bans somewhat, particularly after Republicans’ less-than-stellar showing in the 2022 midterm elections and voters’ widespread support for abortion on state ballot measures.
Meanwhile, Democratic-led states are looking to shore up abortion protections, including Minnesota and Michigan, where Democrats sewed up legislative majorities in the November elections.
Anti-abortion groups said their goal in overturning Roe v. Wade was to turn the decision back to the states, but now they are making clear that what they want is an encompassing national abortion ban.
“Legislation at the state and federal levels should provide the most generous protections possible to life in the womb,” says the “Post-Roe Blueprint” of the anti-abortion group Students for Life.
The new Republican-led House showed its anti-abortion bona fides on its first day of formal legislating, Jan. 11, passing two pieces of anti-abortion legislation that are unlikely to become law with a Senate still controlled by Democrats and President Joe Biden in the White House.
So at the federal level, the fight is taking shape in the courts over the abortion pill mifepristone, which has been used as part of a two-drug regimen for more than two decades, and recently became the way a majority of abortions in the U.S. are conducted.
The Biden administration has moved to make mifepristone more widely available by allowing it to be distributed by pharmacies, as well as clarifying that it is legal to distribute the pills via the U.S. mail. But the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, on behalf of several anti-abortion groups, filed a federal lawsuit in Texas in November, charging that the FDA never had the authority to approve the drug in the first place.
In Texas, some lawmakers are exploring new ways to chip away at Texans’ remaining sliver of access to abortions. For example, one proposal would prevent local governments from using tax dollars to help people access abortion services out of state, while another would prohibit tax subsidies for businesses that help their local employees obtain abortions out of state.
Those measures could get lost in the shuffle of the state’s frantic 140-day, every-other-year session, if legislative leaders don’t consider them a priority. The state’s trigger law banning almost all abortions that went into effect last year “appears to be working very well,” said Joe Pojman, founder and executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion group. In August 2022, three abortions were documented in the state, down from more 5,700 reported during the same month a year earlier, according to the most recent state data.
The top state House Republican said his priority is boosting support for new moms, for example, by extending postpartum Medicaid coverage to 12 months.
It’s “an opportunity for the Texas House to focus more than ever on supporting mothers and children,” said Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, struck a similar theme in a Jan. 10 speech, saying she will introduce bills to expand a program for nurses to visit new mothers at home and help state employees pay for adoptions. Previously, Noem said South Dakota needs to focus “on taking care of mothers in crisis and getting them the resources that they need for both them and their child to be successful.”
Some Texas GOP lawmakers indicated they may be open to carving out exceptions to the abortion ban in cases of rape and incest. And a Republican lawmaker plans to attempt to modify South Dakota’s ban, which allows abortions only for life-threatening pregnancies, to clarify when abortions are medically necessary.
“Part of the issue right now is that doctors and providers just don’t know what that line is,” said state Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, a nurse who has experienced miscarriages and high-risk pregnancies herself.
Rehfeldt wants to reinstate a former law that allows abortions for pregnancies that could cause serious, irreversible physical harm to a “major bodily function.” Rehfeldt said she is also working on bills to allow abortions for people carrying non-viable fetuses, or who became pregnant after rape or incest.
Some anti-abortion activists in Georgia are pushing lawmakers to go further than the state’s ban on most abortions at about six weeks of pregnancy. They want a law to ban telehealth prescriptions of abortion pills and a state constitutional amendment declaring that an embryo or a fetus has all the legal rights of a person at any stage of development.
“Roe is out of the way,” said Zemmie Fleck, executive director of Georgia Right to Life. “There’s no more roadblock to what we can do in our state.”
Republican leaders, however, are biding their time while Georgia’s high court weighs a legal challenge of the six-week ban. “Our focus remains on the case before the Georgia Supreme Court and seeing it across the finish line,” said Andrew Isenhour, spokesperson for Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
Abortion rights lawmakers and advocates have few options to advance their initiatives in these Republican-controlled statehouses.
A Georgia Democrat filed a bill that would make the state compensate women who are unable to terminate pregnancies because of the state’s abortion ban. State Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick acknowledged her bill likely won’t go far, but she said she hopes it keeps attention on the issue and forces GOP lawmakers to “put their money where their mouth is” in supporting families.
In Missouri, where nearly all abortions are now banned, abortion rights advocates are mulling the idea of circumventing the state’s Republican-dominated legislature by asking voters in 2024 to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution.
But those efforts could be upended by a slew of bills filed by Republican lawmakers seeking to make it more difficult to place constitutional initiatives on the ballot, and for those measures that do make it on the ballot, by requiring the approval of at least 60% of voters for passage.
Democrats in Michigan and Minnesota are likely to use their newfound control of both legislative chambers and the governors’ office to protect abortion access. While Michigan voters already passed a ballot measure in November that enshrines the right to abortions in the state constitution, Democrats are trying to repeal a 1931 abortion law from the books.
The November elections brought divided government to Arizona and Nevada, with Arizona now having a Democratic governor and Nevada having a Republican one. Any abortion-related bills that pass the legislatures in those states could be vetoed.
Some Republican-controlled legislatures, including those in Montana, Florida, and Alaska, also are limited in passing sweeping abortion bans because of court rulings that tie abortion access to right-to-privacy provisions in those states’ constitutions.
In Montana, a state judge blocked three anti-abortion laws passed in 2021 on that basis. State government attorneys have asked the Montana Supreme Court to reverse the precedent, and a decision is pending.
In the meantime, Republican state Sen. Keith Regier has filed a bill there seeking to exclude abortion from the state’s definition of a right to privacy. Regier said he believes an individual’s right to privacy should not apply to abortion because an unborn child also is involved.
Democratic leaders said Republicans are out of sync with the people they represent on this issue. In November, Montana voters rejected a “born alive” ballot initiative that would have required doctors to apply medical care to newborns who draw breath or have a heartbeat after a failed abortion or any other birth.
“Montanans said so clearly that they do not want government overreach in their health care decisions,” said Democratic state Rep. Alice Buckley.
KHN correspondents Renuka Rayasam and Sam Whitehead in Atlanta; Arielle Zionts in Rapid City, South Dakota; Bram Sable-Smith in St. Louis; and Katheryn Houghton in Missoula, Montana, contributed to this report.
The federal government has launched its first confirmed investigation of an alleged denial of an abortion to a woman experiencing a medical emergency.
In late October, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services opened an investigation at Freeman Hospital in Joplin, Missouri, under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, department spokesperson Lisa Cox told KHN. It was authorized by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which contracts with state agencies to conduct EMTALA surveys.
The case involves a woman whose water broke early in her pregnancy, but the hospital refused to let doctors perform an abortion. She eventually sought medical help outside the state.
The Biden administration in July had reminded hospitals and physicians in the 13 states that have outlawed most abortions that federal law requires them to provide life- or health-saving medical services — including abortion, if necessary — to patients experiencing emergency pregnancy complications.
The Missouri investigation is significant because EMTALA is one of the government’s strongest tools to ensure that patients with pregnancy complications receive needed abortions following the Supreme Court’s June ruling erasing the constitutional right to abortion. The 1986 EMTALA law requires hospitals and physicians to provide screening and stabilizing treatment in emergency situations.
The July policy guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services stressed that EMTALA supersedes any state law barring abortion, and that hospitals and physicians who don’t comply with the federal mandate could face civil fines and termination from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
HHS cited several emergency pregnancy situations in which abortion might be required to prevent permanent injury or death, such as ectopic pregnancies, severe blood pressure spikes known as preeclampsia, and premature rupture of the membrane causing a woman’s water to break before her pregnancy is viable, which can lead to serious infections and threaten her life.
Other EMTALA investigations of hospitals and physicians alleged to have denied medically necessary emergency abortions have been opened in Texas but haven’t been publicly reported, said Greer Donley, an associate law professor at the University of Pittsburgh, who studies abortion issues.
CMS does not disclose EMTALA investigations before they have been completed and findings and penalties have been finalized, and states generally don’t publicize them either. But patients or hospital staff members might talk, particularly on issues like abortion if they strongly object to the alleged denial of services.
The Missouri investigation involves the case of Mylissa Farmer, 41, who went to Freeman Hospital on Aug. 2, after her water broke nearly 18 weeks into her pregnancy, followed by bleeding and cramping. Physicians there reportedly recommended terminating the pregnancy because it was not viable, Farmer had lost amniotic fluid, and she faced a risk of serious infection. Her case is described in detail in an Oct. 19 article in the Springfield News-Leader, which Farmer, in a brief interview with KHN, said was accurate. Farmer confirmed she was contacted and questioned in October for the EMTALA investigation.
According to the newspaper article, Farmer’s physicians, after consulting with Freeman Hospital’s legal team, told her they could not offer her the standard procedure to terminate the pregnancy — dilation and evacuation — due to Missouri’s law banning all abortions, which took effect June 24.
That position was different from what Farmer said the physicians told her. “My doctors said it was an emergency, and I felt it was an emergency,” she told KHN.
Even though the law includes an exception for “medical emergency,” the doctors and hospital lawyers allegedly determined that her case did not qualify for that exception. Providers found to violate the law can be prosecuted for a class B felony, as well as have their license to practice revoked. The burden of proof is on the providers to show that the abortion was performed because of a medical emergency.
Abortion opponents argue that most state anti-abortion laws include adequate exceptions for the health and life of the pregnant woman. But physicians and hospital lawyers say the exceptions are vaguely worded, and what really matters is how prosecutors in these conservative states interpret them.
Physicians say they need flexibility in deciding when there is an emergency that requires a pregnancy to be terminated and that it’s dangerous to have politicians and lawyers looking over their shoulders. “This is medicine, not law, and it’s very complicated,” said Dr. Kim Puterbaugh, a Cleveland OB-GYN who is a past president of the Society of OB/GYN Hospitalists. Setting arbitrary limits on blood pressure or bleeding when determining if a pregnancy is “in distress, that’s ridiculous. There are too many variables.”
Democratic lawmakers in Missouri have pushed the governor, the attorney general, and state health officials for a clearer definition of the exception for medical emergencies.
Farmer and her boyfriend, who both wanted a child, called multiple hospitals in Kansas and Illinois to see whether she could deliver safely but were repeatedly told that the pregnancy wasn’t viable and that her health was at risk. She eventually got an appointment at the Hope Clinic for Women, across the state border in Granite City, Illinois, where she went into labor and received a procedure to end the pregnancy Aug. 6.
Freeman Hospital officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
“The Missouri statute puts doctors and providers between a rock and a hard place,” said Genevieve Scott, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York. “It creates an extreme deterrent to providing care in medical emergencies, given the risk of providers facing prosecution and losing their livelihood. That clearly threatens the health and lives of every pregnant person in the state.”
The Missouri investigation could provoke a new legal showdown between the Biden administration and Republican state elected officials who favor strict abortion bans. The administration already is locked in litigation in Texas and Idaho over the July guidance on EMTALA.
A Texas federal judge issued a temporary restraining order in August saying the guidance was “unauthorized” and went beyond EMTALA in requiring abortions in emergency situations. Federal officials have appealed. But an Idaho federal judge sided with the administration’s position, and Idaho officials have asked him to reconsider his ruling.
Experts doubt whether such litigation will block EMTALA enforcement in abortion-related situations like the Missouri case. The investigation of the actions of Freeman Hospital and its physicians will solely examine whether they complied with the requirements of federal law, not state law, said Katie Keith, an associate research professor at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute. Still, she added, the hospital could cite the Missouri anti-abortion law as a defense, setting up a court fight down the line.
Farmer’s case also is playing a role in the U.S. Senate race in Missouri between Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Democratic nominee Trudy Busch Valentine, a nurse. Farmer appeared in a TV ad for Busch Valentine criticizing Schmitt for issuing a proclamation on June 24 that put Missouri’s anti-abortion trigger law into effect. “My Missouri doctors weren’t allowed to give me the care I needed, all because of the mandate Eric Schmitt put into place,” Farmer said in the ad. “Eric Schmitt doesn’t care about women like me.”
Schmitt’s campaign lawyers sent letters to the TV stations carrying the ad demanding that it be taken off the air, according to local news reports. They claimed it was inaccurate in stating that women could go to prison for having an abortion and failing to mention that it includes an exception to protect the health of the patient.
Cases similar to Farmer’s likely are happening every day in states that have banned abortions, and more EMTALA investigations will be launched, warned Sara Rosenbaum, a professor of health law and policy at George Washington University. This places hospitals and physicians in an excruciating spot, she added. CMS has said it will initiate investigations based on credible information including news reports.
An EMTALA investigation “is one of the worst things that can happen to you,” she said, speaking about providers, “because it puts a label on you that you denied what the woman needed to survive when it was clear that the baby was lost.”
Surgical procedures and medication for miscarriages are identical to those for abortion, and some patients report delayed or denied miscarriage care because doctors and pharmacists fear running afoul of abortion bans.
