CALIFORNIA DREAMING

Harrowing experiences at Los Angeles County

BENITO ‘JONG’ MOLINTAS JR.

GARDENA CITY -- It was really so hard to say goodbye to my relatives, who have been behind me all the time and gave everything I needed. That day when I asked permission from my aunt to stay in Los Angeles for a quite sometime, I stayed in their house at Gardena City which is close to that of our kababayan, “Laurie Sarmiento” (not her real name), who is from Pingad, Sabangan.

On my way to Los Angeles from San Jacinto, I met a terrible accident on the freeway while I was driving at 156 miles per hour when I suddenly loose my brake. It was a blessing there was no car at the right lane where I diverted my car so I won’t be hitting the next car.

It might have been a premonition that something wrong will happen in my destination. From that traumatic experience, I needed to rest at Gardena City before going to Santa Clarita northern part of Los Angels to meet a person for an important appointment. Our kailian Laurie came to know that I was around and asked a favor if I could help her for the time being.

So, with no reservations I went to her facility. While were chatting, one of her residents, Maria F. Leigh, a schizophrenic patient approached Laurie. During their conversation, I noticed that the patient, who wore a T-shirt with three winter jackets during the hot weather was so pale, trembling and dizzy.

I tried my best to induce her to take off some of her clothing, but she refused. I was forced to do it despite her refusal. I called the attention of Laurie, if she could call 911 for help. Looking at Ms Leigh, who was strong in fighting back, we didn’t know it would be her last hour on earth.

In less than thirty minutes, we noticed that she was hard up in breathing. With no hesitation, I tried to wake her up. When I pulled her up, she was passive prodding me to check her pulse. I felt no warmth from her body.

I screamed, while calling the administrator that Ms. Leigh was already dead. In less than 10 minutes, 911 personnel came and pronounced her dead on the spot. We still did not know the reason of her death after three or four weeks. It is still under investigation.I can not just leave Laurie all alone with this terrible scenario. So I decided to stay for a while until the investigation and the case would be done. After a few days, I was sitting on a couch, when a man carrying a big video camera approached me with a pretty and well-known lady “Shiela” (not her real name), a news reporter from a popular channel in this county.

The administrator was at the back, thus I needed to entertain them. She started it with information that a patient died because of heat wave, which is the present issue in California. More than a dozen of people died this summer because of heat wave, just a few days from now, the weather will be cooler and yet at the outset of this season a tragic moment happened in Gardena.

It was aired clearly that, Ms Leigh died of heat wave. I didn’t have any further discussions to that because earlier, I tried to persuade her to remove her jackets. But, she refused. “We can not force the residents, despite their illness as they are aware of their rights – and that they can always refuse when they wanted to do it,” I said. The incident haunts me until now.