Orlando doctor shares blood-soaked shoes after treating shooting victims
One of the doctors who treated survivors of the Orlando massacre has shared a post about his night – and his blood-soaked shoes.
At least 49 people were killed and 53 were injured in the shooting at the Pulse gay club in Orlando over the weekend. With more than a hundred now confirmed dead or injured, the shooting has become the worst in American history.
Vigils have been taking place across the world, with thousands of LGBT people and allies taking to the streets to show solidarity.
Dr. Joshua Corsa, a surgeon at Orlando Regional Medical Center, shared his story in a Facebook post, with a picture of his shoes.
He wrote: “These are my work shoes from Saturday night. They are brand new, not even a week old. I came to work this morning and saw these in the corner my call room, next to the pile of dirty scrubs.
“I had forgotten about them until now. On these shoes, soaked between its fibers, is the blood of 54 innocent human beings. I don’t know which were straight, which were gay, which were black, or which were Hispanic.
“What I do know is that they came to us in wave upon wave of suffering, screaming, and death. And somehow, in that chaos, doctors, nurses, technicians, police, paramedics, and others, performed super human feats of compassion and care.
“This blood, which poured out of those patients and soaked through my scrubs and shoes, will stain me forever. In these Rorschach patterns of red I will forever see their faces and the faces of those that gave everything they had in those dark hours.
“There is still an enormous amount of work to be done. Some of that work will never end. And while I work I will continue to wear these shoes.
“And when the last patient leaves our hospital, I will take them off, and I will keep them in my office. I want to see them in front of me every time I go to work.
“For on June 12, after the worst of humanity reared its evil head, I saw the best of humanity of come fighting right back. I never want to forget that night.”
