Cook's Corner Victim - Michael (Mike) Bertuccini

On Wednesday, August 23rd a man in the middle of a mental health crisis walked into “Cooks Corner Bar and Grill” in Trabuco Canyon in beautiful Orange County and began shooting up the place. Our brother Michael was one of those individuals who was shot during the violence. He was outside after eating the $8 spaghetti special, doing what he normally does, helping a friend in need fix a tail light on his bike, while adjusting this tail light, his friend heard what he thought were firecrackers and saw a man holding a gun. Michael felt a sharp pain in his ribs and realized the man was shooting at them.

Michael pushed his friend towards a ditch that was nearby and said "he is shooting at us". Once he pushed his friend to safety Michael scrambled into the ditch where he collapsed to the ground, his friend, fearing that the man would come to the ditch and shoot them, began dragging Michael through the mud underneath an overpass and waited, hoping the man would not come to where they were taking cover.

Once Michael came to he quickly realized he had been shot as it was almost impossible to breathe. Blood was pouring out of the side of his chest and later he realized that he had a collapsed lung, his friend applied pressure and they stayed there for what felt like a lifetime. Eventually, they heard police on the overpass and they yelled to the police that Michael was injured and it was life-threatening. One of the quick-thinking police officers brought a gurney to aid him and rushed him to an ambulance to get him to the Hospital as soon as possible. Michael was in critical condition at this point.

While in the hospital, the wonderful doctors and nurses had to do exploratory surgery, they found that the bullet had entered his lung passing through his diaphragm, nicking his liver and settling in his abdomen. Thankfully with the hard work of the doctors and nurses, they were able to fix the damage that was caused by the bullet. Michael was on a ventilator needing help to breathe and was under heavy sedation until Saturday. Infection is a major concern and they also found that he has a broken hand. It will be a long and painful road to recovery for him.

Michael has two sons whom he loves dearly and some of the first words spoken, once awake was "Are my boys okay"? He looks forward to the day that he can play and spend quality time with them that only a father can once again. He is now able to Facetime with his youngest as he is too young to visit his dad while in the hospital.

Michael will have unknown expenses due to this tragedy so we as his family are asking on his behalf for any help that you can spare to help Michael cover any Medical and Living expenses that are incurred while he is recovering

We appreciate your thoughts and prayers during his time of need.

Thank you,

The Family of Michael Bertuccini