After experiencing nights of no sleep and extremely swollen feet, William
Mulien knew something was wrong with his health. He slid on his slippers,
the only shoes that would fit, and drove himself to Torrance Memorial
Urgent Care. Due to his symptoms, he was immediately sent to the Torrance
Memorial Medical Center Emergency Department, where they performed an
electrocardiogram
(EKG) and discovered an aneurism had formed on his left aorta.
Mulien was transferred to ICU, but he wasn’t in the clear yet. It
was during his second night in the hospital that Mulien went into cardiac
arrest. The quick thinking medical staff was able to bring him back to
consciousness with a defibrillator, something the on-staff physician found
remarkable, in itself.
Had Mulien stayed at home, he would not be here to share his story today.
Mulien went on to spend three nights at Torrance Memorial, after which
he was transferred to Keck Medicine of USC. A year has passed, and William
has a new lease on life.
“If it wasn’t for Torrance Memorial, I would not be alive today,” he says.
On December 1, 2015, received an email from Torrance Memorial requesting
donations for Giving Tuesday. Mulien decided it would be the perfect time
to honor the experienced staff, nurses, and physicians who saved his life
just one year earlier.
“I donated on Giving Tuesday to give honor to all of the staff in
the ICU who save lives every day,” Mulien says. “Thank you
for giving me a second chance at life.”
Giving Tuesday was created in 2012 as a global movement to celebrate generosity
and to give back. Observed on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the
U.S.) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber
Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus
on their holiday and end-of-year giving.
The Torrance Memorial Health Foundation celebrated Giving Tuesday for the
first time in 2015 to acknowledge that community support for local health
care can take many shapes—large and small.
“Measure your net worth not by how much you have, but by how many
you impact with your generosity,” Laura Schenasi, the executive
vice president of the Torrance Memorial Foundation, says. “While
Giving Tuesday is a great reason to give, Torrance Memorial is tremendously
grateful for all gifts received year-round of any size.”
She continues, “Each one in some way benefits the more than 800,000
lives in our service area.”