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by Renee_Banot from FOX 6 Milwaukee

Last Post 299 days, 20 hours Ago


"I'm Glad I don't have Kids"
Oct 12, 2007 | 8:11 PM
Category: News
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He must have been standing there for two minutes.

A little boy, about 7 or 8 years old, was staring at the grass. I was a couple feet away and ignored him as I was talking to a woman who lives on the block. All of a sudden, the boy uttered an angry cry and walked away. He was sobbing.

"I think that was his cousin," The woman told me.

The boy had been staring into a large puddle of blood.

"That's why I'm glad I don't have kids, " The woman went on. "I'd never want to raise them in this environment."

Less than twelve hours earlier, someone drove by this block near 24th and Chambers and shot a 16-year-old Milwaukee boy in the head several times. He died right there in that puddle.

People walking to work and small children walking to the school bus stop couldn't keep their eyes off it. Cars drove slowly, some stopped alongside it just to take it in. Next to the puddle were alcohol pads, ointment, latex gloves and a blood-soaked paper towel: All signs of the medics' struggle to keep him alive. Neighbors said it worked... once. They revived him. But his fight didn't last long.

Friday morning, the woman I spoke with joined another neighbor in gathering up a broom, a bucket of soapy water and a scrub brush. Together, they cleaned up that teenager's blood. They wanted to wash away the reminder that their neighborhood is in big trouble. Another woman told me this was the third shooting in the past two weeks. The people here are tired. Not everyone has nothing to lose. And they want you to know that. They're hard working. After a hard day at work, they spend some nights struggling to stay alive.

As for the boy, I wonder if I witnessed his life change forever. He didn't walk away sad. He was LIVID. He lost his innocence in that pool of blood. I am haunted by the possibility that his rage will rest in his heart as revenge. I pray it's not true. I pray he takes this and vows never to become a part of this nightmare. I would have paid anything to take a big eraser and wipe that image from his mind. But I can't. So all I can do is brace myself and hope I can do a positive story on this boy... instead of another that ends just like so many others do.

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Member Comments Total Comments: 16
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MrsTracy read my blog view my photos
Oct 12, 2007 | 9:28 PM

Renee,
It has been said so many times before in these blogs. It is only a few people who ruin it for everyone. It only took one person with a gun to change the lives of so many people forever.

That little boy is NEVER going to forget what he saw and how he felt that day. It is sad because those women are right when they say the things they said. And unfortunately, those few have no conscience and could care less who they hurt, kill, or ruin forever.

Those women did a good thing by cleaning that, but I feel for them. How horrible it must have been for them to have to take on that responsibility. And they didn't even have to. They just did it. I don't think I could have done that myself. I have alot of respect for them.
desertwindrider read my blog view my photos
Oct 12, 2007 | 11:59 PM

Who in their right mind is going to leave blood and used medical supplies out in the open like that? Have we all lost our marbles?
F0x6Fan read my blog view my photos
Oct 13, 2007 | 5:47 AM

that little boy is changed forever in that moment....it is up to ALL OF US as a society to reach out to this kid as if he were our own......because we are all spiritually connected. If we ignore him, turn our backs and pretend we are separate then you, me, or someone else will "feel" his pain later.
MrsTracy read my blog view my photos
Oct 13, 2007 | 11:59 AM

desertwindrider
Oct 12, 2007 | 10:59 PM Who in their right mind is going to leave blood and used medical supplies out in the open like that? Have we all lost our marbles?

That is what the medics do. They get there, they try to do what they can and in the process, alot of things are opend and thrown to the side. But since they have to get going fast, they leave everything they dropped behind. They don't have time to clean up.

But I do think that since it was outside, a cop should have been responsible for picking that stuff up. They have to sweep up glass in the road from car accidents. I would think this would be the same. And there were cops there.

But again, there is a way they do things and procedures they have to follow.
Only1Antoine read my blog
Oct 13, 2007 | 12:22 PM

Thats one of those moments where I would feel bad that anything like that happens especially a family member looking at the puddle of blood and so on. That boy's life is going to change for a very long time and he's going to look at the people in his neighborhood and be like "is this what I have to live with for the rest of my life"? That is what he probably will think or say--

But he if thinks very hard and carefully, he knows the answer would be no and there are ways we that he can deal with it or change it. I for one wouldn't want to live in a bad neighborhood in any part of any community. Yeah, it's probably anywhere you go, and that's why they say "you need to be on the lookout and watch your back at all times". That's true no matter what you want to say or believe or not.

We can help people who've been family tragedies or fatal accidents because that's one of the reasons why we're here on GODs Green Earth; to help one another and do good deeds, and to succeed.

Yeah, "I'm Glad I Don't Have Kids" Either, but anytime something bad happens, when it comes times to get ready and have kids or we have kids to raise someday, we have to prepare them and tell them to be responsible and be careful when they're out here in this city we call "home".
happylopezlady read my blog view my photos
Oct 13, 2007 | 1:11 PM

I think I would have been haunted by the image of that child seeing that blood also. I never thought about all the different heartache you witness any given moment. I give all of you (reporters) alot of credit for doing the jobs you do and I'm glad that you blog about the things that you see and experience when the cameras aren't on.
desertwindrider read my blog view my photos
Oct 14, 2007 | 5:01 AM

Blood and medical droppings are called BIO HAZARD. This should have been cleaned up. Who didn't do their job??
Blessed_Angel read my blog view my photos
Oct 14, 2007 | 9:32 PM

DWR, that's the same major thing I honed in on when I read this. Doesn't anyone care about blood borne pathogens? Some of them, if contracted, are death sentences. The people cleaning it up should have had protective gear on and now everything they used is contaminated as well. (And they thought the only thing they had to worry about was gunfire?)
upnorth read my blog
Oct 15, 2007 | 4:29 PM

My uncle had a heart attack and crashed his car into a parked car 3 blocks from his home (in Milwaukee). He died there, the Paramedics were unable to revive him. The next morning I had to drive past the accident site on my way to work and there were still rubber gloves, an oxygen mask and something blood soaked next to it in the curb. This was all very visable. It was still there 1 day later. My husband and I doned rubber gloves and disposed of it ourselves so none of his family would have to keep seeing it. My Brother inlaw is a Milwaukee fire fighter and he told me things like that are unacceptable and it should have been disposed of no matter how hectic the situation.
Blessed_Angel read my blog view my photos
Oct 15, 2007 | 5:29 PM

Thanks for the input upnorth. It would make sense that those answering the emergency call would have clean-up kits; although, even onsite law enforcement left behind a scene like this I'm sure has had blood-borne pathogen training and are capable of taking care of this too. I think it's inexcusable to allow the existence of this to lie idol for hours much less days with the potential (in some cases) of harm that can arise from doing so. Entries of transmission are through pores, mucous membranes, sores that have not healed. Why would any professional leave that area knowing that material was still there and the adverse impact it could have on an innocent life?
upnorth read my blog
Oct 15, 2007 | 5:50 PM

Ya know BA if it hadn't been my uncle, I most likely would not have done that. I know how terrible it made me feel to see that, so I can't imagine how traumatic it must have been for that young child to see that, knowing that someone was murdered there. I think it is terrible that the neighbors had to clean that up.
Bryan_Polcyn read my blog view my photos
Oct 15, 2007 | 10:33 PM

No offense, folks, but I'm pretty sure the point Renee was making had nothing to do with medical supplies or blood-borne pathogens. It was about the boy's reaction.

What must he be thinking? And what impact will it have on his future? Our future?

Truth be told, I'm glad I DO have kids. Then again, the only blood soaking the streets of my neighborhood is that of roadkill, not relatives.
Blessed_Angel read my blog view my photos
Oct 16, 2007 | 12:22 AM

The boy's reaction sort of got lost for me in what caught his attention in the first place. I'm sure that reaction would have been short-lived had the blood been cleaned up in a timely manner. How about a kid contracting AIDS from such carelessness and not ever experiencing reactions to anything because he's dead by the time he's an adult? We're suppose to worry about reactions of a quick death when there's a potential slow one laying right there on the ground? Alrighty. LOL
stephen1276 read my blog view my photos
Oct 16, 2007 | 1:17 AM

Like you Renee, I don't have kids. But in the situation with the boy, I mean I know that it was a haunting experience for him. Maybe he was concerned. I think when they see that, they know. But I think we as adults, who don't have children, (like me), can step in and say that it's one of those things that we have to watch out for, and take an important option to explain it to them without made up stories. In other words, we have to tell the truth.

Hillary Clinton once used this quote from an African proverb: "It take a village to raise a child."
Renee_Banot read my blog
Oct 16, 2007 | 7:23 AM

Thanks for your comments, guys. I think there were a lot of problems in the street that day.
upnorth read my blog
Oct 16, 2007 | 9:30 AM

I think we all got the point Renee was trying to make. I guess the point some of us were trying to make, is that the young boy would never have seen it in the first place if it had been cleaned up along with the other things left behind by the medics.
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Renee_Banot

I am a general assignment reporter-- which means I cover anything from "State Fair Foods on a Stick" to "A Visit from the President." Every assignment is different. Every day is a clean slate. I thank God for the opportunity to do what I love in my beloved hometown. Please feel free to browse my blog. Any comments, questions or story suggestions... LET 'ER RIP!

Member Since: 8/24/2006