RuthAnn's Trauma Recovery Fund
Donation protected
This is Kris Simon, I'm a friend of RuthAnn Thompson's. With RuthAnn's blessing, I wanted to share what happened last night after we parted ways in front of my apartment at 9pm, after spending a wonderful day celebrating a birthday.
On November 11th at 9:45pm RuthAnn was filling up her gas tank at a well-lit station that was about a block from her home. She had opened her car door to get in when a man came at her from behind brandishing a gun, and demanded her car keys. RuthAnn attempted to just get in her car and shut the door, but he came at her and hit her repeatedly on both sides of the head with his gun. She fought back against the pistol-whipping and threw a punch to his face, breaking his glasses, and got into the car and slammed the door shut, locking herself in. The man sauntered off. She called 9-1-1 and couldn't get through. She hung up and tried again and left it ringing, and after making sure the man wasn't around, got out of the car and tried to go into the gas station where the attendant was, along with another customer. The attendant (a female), told her to get out and stay outside (this enraged me when I heard it). The other customer (a male) was immediately concerned and attempted to help.
When the police arrived, RuthAnn was able to give a description of the man and the gun he had, which was identified as a Glock. They called an ambulance as she was bleeding heavily from her head and was covered in blood. She had also lost the hearing in her right ear. This is when I received her phone call at 10:15pm, which is a call I hope no one ever has to get. RuthAnn was crying hysterically and I will never forget her words: "I was attacked at the gas station near my house, he beat me with a metal bar and I managed to fight back, but the police are here and I'm being taken to the hospital and I need someone to come get my car."
I think I sounded more calm than I felt...because internally, I lost it. I asked who had the car keys, and I heard her give my name to the officer who would stay with the car until I got there. I asked what hospital she was being taken to, and she said she would text me when she knew. It felt like it took forever to throw on clothes and shoes and get out the door, but the reality is that from the time I hung up to the time we arrived at the gas station, it was only 25 minutes. The officer told me where she was, she told me RuthAnn was incredibly brave (I started crying) and had provided a description. They also told me that (unfortunately) this guy would most likely strike again and that's when they would catch him.
It would be 2 hours in the ER before they would let me see RuthAnn. She was still bleeding and they needed to put 2 more staples in addition to the 4 that were already put in, after shaving her head.
She was in shock, shaking uncontrollably and despite being on morphine and 2 shots of dilaudid, I had to hold her legs as they put more staples into her head.
I was with her until 3:30am, she was throwing up, but all her head scans came back okay. No concussion, brain trauma or spinal injuries! However, this was when RuthAnn let me know that she had just found out that her insurance had lapsed. She had called just a few days earlier because she had found out that her current auto-payment hadn't cleared from her checking. She had been planning on taking care of it today, Monday. So no insurance, an ambulance ride, and a whole lot of pain killers (the doctor literally used the phrase "the best money can buy") and scans. This is what brings us here to GoFundMe.
RuthAnn can't work her normal background acting jobs, and is in between events (it's the holidays), so she has no income coming in right now. She needs to move out of the neighborhood she is in, where she was attacked. The medical expenses, plus living expenses and moving expenses are going to cost more than what she has or can quickly make. We're not sure what the exact costs are going to be, but we did some preliminary research and estimated this amount to be conservative and figured we could always adjust once the bills come in.
Those of you who know RuthAnn, know that she is a positive, cheerful human being who brings light into the world. Anything you can give to help her cover her living expenses while she recovers will help. And will also help to alleviate the medical bills that will be arriving as well as to get her out of her place and into a safer neighborhood.
If you can't donate, please share this so we can get RuthAnn on the road to being herself again as soon as possible. You have our deepest gratitude.
On November 11th at 9:45pm RuthAnn was filling up her gas tank at a well-lit station that was about a block from her home. She had opened her car door to get in when a man came at her from behind brandishing a gun, and demanded her car keys. RuthAnn attempted to just get in her car and shut the door, but he came at her and hit her repeatedly on both sides of the head with his gun. She fought back against the pistol-whipping and threw a punch to his face, breaking his glasses, and got into the car and slammed the door shut, locking herself in. The man sauntered off. She called 9-1-1 and couldn't get through. She hung up and tried again and left it ringing, and after making sure the man wasn't around, got out of the car and tried to go into the gas station where the attendant was, along with another customer. The attendant (a female), told her to get out and stay outside (this enraged me when I heard it). The other customer (a male) was immediately concerned and attempted to help.
When the police arrived, RuthAnn was able to give a description of the man and the gun he had, which was identified as a Glock. They called an ambulance as she was bleeding heavily from her head and was covered in blood. She had also lost the hearing in her right ear. This is when I received her phone call at 10:15pm, which is a call I hope no one ever has to get. RuthAnn was crying hysterically and I will never forget her words: "I was attacked at the gas station near my house, he beat me with a metal bar and I managed to fight back, but the police are here and I'm being taken to the hospital and I need someone to come get my car."
I think I sounded more calm than I felt...because internally, I lost it. I asked who had the car keys, and I heard her give my name to the officer who would stay with the car until I got there. I asked what hospital she was being taken to, and she said she would text me when she knew. It felt like it took forever to throw on clothes and shoes and get out the door, but the reality is that from the time I hung up to the time we arrived at the gas station, it was only 25 minutes. The officer told me where she was, she told me RuthAnn was incredibly brave (I started crying) and had provided a description. They also told me that (unfortunately) this guy would most likely strike again and that's when they would catch him.
It would be 2 hours in the ER before they would let me see RuthAnn. She was still bleeding and they needed to put 2 more staples in addition to the 4 that were already put in, after shaving her head.
She was in shock, shaking uncontrollably and despite being on morphine and 2 shots of dilaudid, I had to hold her legs as they put more staples into her head.
I was with her until 3:30am, she was throwing up, but all her head scans came back okay. No concussion, brain trauma or spinal injuries! However, this was when RuthAnn let me know that she had just found out that her insurance had lapsed. She had called just a few days earlier because she had found out that her current auto-payment hadn't cleared from her checking. She had been planning on taking care of it today, Monday. So no insurance, an ambulance ride, and a whole lot of pain killers (the doctor literally used the phrase "the best money can buy") and scans. This is what brings us here to GoFundMe.
RuthAnn can't work her normal background acting jobs, and is in between events (it's the holidays), so she has no income coming in right now. She needs to move out of the neighborhood she is in, where she was attacked. The medical expenses, plus living expenses and moving expenses are going to cost more than what she has or can quickly make. We're not sure what the exact costs are going to be, but we did some preliminary research and estimated this amount to be conservative and figured we could always adjust once the bills come in.
Those of you who know RuthAnn, know that she is a positive, cheerful human being who brings light into the world. Anything you can give to help her cover her living expenses while she recovers will help. And will also help to alleviate the medical bills that will be arriving as well as to get her out of her place and into a safer neighborhood.
If you can't donate, please share this so we can get RuthAnn on the road to being herself again as soon as possible. You have our deepest gratitude.
Organizer and beneficiary
Kristen Koerner Simon
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
RuthAnn Thompson
Beneficiary