Chris Salazar

Chris Salazar

By society’s standards, he wasn’t very significant. He wasn’t famous; he wasn’t a political figure; he wasn’t a scholar. In fact, he never graduated from college. He didn’t have a lot of material possessions. He worked as a cook and server in the restaurant industry. In other words, this young man was just another ordinary person. What he had that made him an amazing human being was a devotion to his two beautiful daughters whom adored him very much, a love for life and all the adventures it brought, and parents and family who loved and respected him as he did them. To his friends, he was a good-natured man you could count on, not only for help if it was within his power to do so, but also for a smile, a hug, and an attentive ear when they needed to vent or discuss whatever. On April 9th, the first tragedy happened: this young man needlessly lost his life. This young man died while in the care of highly trained critical care personnel at a Level III Trauma Center. Eighteen days after his devastating accident, his heart and lungs stopped working. At 27, there was nothing wrong with either organ. So why did this happen? Although the case for negligence seemed apparent to three different teams of lawyers, in the final analysis, we were told a little know healthcare law made it not “economically feasible” to pursue litigation. To me, that meant the lawyers found it wasn’t worth financially pursuing justice for this young man. This very significant 27-year-old man was my son, Christopher John Salazar.

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