Unrest in Chicago this week prevented a 2-year-old cancer patient from celebrating his birthday.
Owen Buell and his family had been staying in the Ronald McDonald House, which provides resources to families with children undergoing medical treatments, and planned to head home to celebrate the boy’s birthday, WBBM radio reported Tuesday.
“We were going to have cake and ice cream and do some presents at home with his siblings and his grandma,” Owen Buell’s mother, Valerie Mitchell, said.
Then, the violence hit Chicago’s streets Sunday night and early Monday morning.
“We got a phone call from the nurse saying that none of the nurses could make it in for safety concerns and they didn’t want any families in the middle of that trying to walk into Lurie’s,” Mitchell said.
2-year-old Owen has cancer. He was supposed to have his birthday party a few days ago but it was canceled because of riots in Chicago. The Ronald McDonald House where he’s staying was hit by looters. This is his Go Fund Me. Help if you can. https://t.co/I4U5bKEad1
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 12, 2020
“The whole door was shattered, and it looked like a bullet hole, so I started freaking out thinking about how unsafe that was. You shouldn’t feel that way when your kid needs medical care. You shouldn’t be afraid to walk a few blocks down the street,” she said.
The widespread destruction in Chicago reportedly left an estimated $60 million in damages and injured 13 police officers. Hundreds of people smashed windows, looted stores, and confronted officers, including one incident in which police returned gunfire on a suspect.
The Ronald McDonald House was among the locations targeted during the night, according to CBS Chicago.
“I ask myself, ‘Why can he not just have cancer? Why does there have to be coronavirus with it? Why is there all this protesting?’ I just feel like a lot of this stuff really makes it worse for him and our family. If he was going through treatment a year ago, his siblings would be able to come here,” Mitchell said.
