Chiefs rally victims now facing medical bills

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Shooting victims continue to recover from injuries at the Chiefs Parade. As time goes on - they face a new hurdle: medical bills.

Samuel Arellano, 10, was shot in the side, the bullet grazing his right rib and almost puncturing his lung.

“It felt like I was getting stabbed,” Arellano said.

Thankfully, Arellano was able to leave the hospital the same day. His aunt, Eunice Salas, said they’ve already received the first medical bill.

“Three days later, they called us like you have a balance due,” Salas said. “So we are like, oh my gosh, like, slow down.”

Salas said it’s overwhelming for their family because Arellano isn’t covered under medical insurance.

“You’re never prepared for this type of thing to happen,” Salas said. “We just put everything in God’s hands.”

Kera Mashek, the spokesperson for United Way of Greater Kansas City, said they are working as quickly as they can to make sure the families affected get the help they need.

The KC Strong Fund has reached $1 million in donations.

“We want to make sure that all the dollars that we’ve raised are going to the appropriate parties,” Mashek said.

But Mashek said distributing the money doesn’t happen overnight as they have to go through an extensive vetting process.

“That means working with law enforcement, and also with our health care systems to ensure that all of those victims who have identified themselves as being related to this incident are indeed victims,” Mashek said.

Mashek said once the money is collected, it’ll be divided up into three tiers—the victims, mental health assistance, and first responders. “Those processes are actively being established right now, and we anticipate sometime in the month of March that we’ll actually begin writing checks,” Mashek said.

It’s a sigh of relief for Samuel and his family as they said they’re so grateful for all the support during this tough time.

“For us to find out that we have other help coming and we have the funds for us there, it just gave us that peace that we’re looking for in this specific moment,” Salas said.

You can donate to the KC Strong Fund through the end of March.

There is also a GoFundMe set up for Samuel and his family.