On Saturday, May 12, mothers, youth, and students marched from 61st St and Cottage Grove Avenue to the nearest trauma center ten miles away, Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “We are marching to show the distance it takes to get the nearest trauma center and to show that we will not give up, we will march 100s of miles if we have to, we will march until our feet give out and even then we won’t stop until we get a trauma center” said Victoria Crider, 16, of Fearless Leading by the Youth, the group organizing the march. This ten mile march is the latest in a series of actions led by Fearless Leading by the Youth (FLY) and University of Chicago students demanding the University of Chicago reopen their trauma center.

The first stop of the march was held in front of the University of Chicago Hosptial, where victimes’ mothers, doctors, nurses, youth, and students demanded the University reopen their trauma center. Speaking at the press conference was Donna Smith of National Nurses United and “SiCKO” who is in town for the NATO protests. The University of Chicago Hospital closed its trauma center in 1988, causing a domino effect that led to the current trauma center desert on the south side of Chicago. For more information, visit STOP Chicago at www.stopchicago.org.