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Melissa Puffenbarger and Lauren Sucher-O’Grady

“I would definitely say I probably have a natural predisposition towards a pessimistic outlook on life. I think that’s just been confirmed with my job. I’ve seen horrible violence. And just the things people do to each other, that you never think about, that maybe you saw in an episode of Law and Order Special Victims Unit one time, you’re like, ‘Wow, that’s terrible’. And then you see it in the real world, and it’s 10 times worse. That’s the kind of trauma that we go through as individuals who have to see that level of violence,” Lauren Sucher-O’Grady said.
Both Sucher-O’Grady and Melissa Puffenbarger have seen and treated countless injuries due to gun violence. Puffenbarger, as a pediatric doctor, began her career in Cleveland and later moved to St. Louis. In just her first week at a new hospital, she was surprised to encounter a child gunshot victim.
“I think that struck me when I moved from Cleveland to St. Louis, which, in general, are very similar cities,” Puffenbarger said. “But St. Louis, unfortunately, is winning the gold medal right now in pediatric on violence and has been for several years. [. . .] I didn’t really feel that presence in Cleveland. I’m sure it was there, but it just wasn’t as present. And I think it seems to be, with regards to pediatric gun violence, a problem of the inner city where we see a lot more violence, a lot more crime.”
Sucher-O’Grady used to witness gunshot victims on a near-daily basis during her residency at Barnes Jewish Hospital. Due to her specialization in the ER, many of her patients have just experienced major bodily trauma.
These conditions leave memories that are difficult to shake.
“I had this one kid who was eight. I think she was on her mom’s bed doing her homework, and the bullet came through her window, shot her through the head and went into her mom’s leg. And she died in the ER, we had to tell her parents. It was really aahard,” Sucher-O’Grady said.
This wasn’t Sucher-O’Grady’s first time informing parents that their child had died due to a bullet wound, nor will it be the last. The small details stand out to her; a young girl’s pink barrettes, or her tiny braids. For these reasons, Sucher-O’Grady cautions others against becoming ER doctors unless they are prepared to “show up for work every day and have it be the worst day of everyone else’s life”.
Depending on the type of gun and distancefrom the shooter, trauma from impact differs greatly. Especially in children, a bullet can enter a small part of the body and cause massive internal damage.
Due to this risk, an element of pediatric medicine is preventing potential threats for children.
“We would ask about wearing helmets when you ride your bike. And, are you wearing seatbelts? In Cleveland, we would ask, ‘Are there guns in your home? And how have you made them safe?’” Puffenbarger said.
Many Cleveland citizens were opposed to doctors asking about firearms in the household, because they viewed it as a violation of 2nd Amendment rights. However, doctors retained this ability as, according to Puffenbarger, the procedure was in place solely to ensure the safety of children in the home.
Sucher-O’Grady and Puffenbarger often see kids who have been exposed to gun violence multiple times before they’re even old enough to understand it. This can lead to PTSD, fearfulness and a variety of other emotional problems.
In one instance, a 2-year-old boy came into the ER with a bullet wound in his hand. His mother claimed that she had no idea where the gun came from.
Later, law enforcement found that the injury was a result of her unsecured weapon, which he had discovered in their home.
“Every time I walked past this 2-year-old’s room, he held up his hand and was like, ‘I got shot! I got shot!’ Not crying, or distressed,” Puffenbarger said. “2-year-olds don’t have a lot of words. It bothered me that he could string together these three words… and seemed pleased about it. This is part of his world. He’s seen this before, this was not new to him. That was just the first time he got hit. That’s what bothers me.”
In St. Louis specifically, the types of injuries encountered change depending on location. Sucher-O’Grady and Puffenbargar have both worked in different county and city hospitals, and have noticed these differences.
“[In the county] it’s more self-inflicted, I’ve noticed, either accidentally or purposefully. I’ve seen one BB gun accident that was between a father and a son, that was a true accident, but the BB gun kind of lodged in the soft tissue of his neck,” Sucher-O’Grady said.
In the city, fewer gun violence injuries are self-inflicted.
“Most of the time it’s, ‘I was sitting on a couch or sitting on the bed, something came through my window or through the wall,’” Puffenbarger said. “Or, ‘I was outside playing, minding my own business’. Maybe 5-years-old, 7-years-old, sometimes younger, and who knows who the target was, but the child was in the way, unfortunately.”

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