On Saturday, May 8th, 2021, dozens of residents in Renton held a 1k walk in support of Black Nurses at Liberty Park. The event was hosted by Renton Residents for Change and held a special memorial for Kaloni Bolton, 12 years old. The family of Bolton is using the hashtag #Breathe4Kaloni.
In late December of 2020, Kaloni Bolton was experiencing difficulty breathing. Her family took her to the urgent care facility at the Renton Landing where after half an hour she was turned away and directed to another healthcare facility. The family rushed to the North Benson urgent care where they say she was given an empty oxygen tank and then one that staff did not know how to operate. Although she was having an asthma attack she was not given a nebulizer machine. Kaloni went into cardiac arrest then was transported to the Seattle Children’s Hospital and put on life support where she passed away two days later.
The family of Bolton is upset with the North Benson healthcare facility and grieving the loss of their young loved one. Racism in the healthcare system is a large issue in the United States. According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, nearly half of medical students held false beliefs about Black patients as recently as 2016. Residents at the event heard the family’s story, with some even writing in chalk at Liberty Park, “#BreatheForKaloni”.
Comments are closed.