Blanca Tamayo, Survivor Of Mass Shooting At Orange Office Building, Released From Hospital
Blanca #Blanca
ORANGE (CBSLA) — Blanca Tamayo was released from the hospital Wednesday, more than a month after a deadly rampage at a business complex in Orange.
Exactly five weeks after Blanca Tamayo was rushed to UCI Medical Center after suffering a gunshot wound to the head, she left wearing a shirt that had a photo of Matthew and a helmet to protect her skull.
“I’ve got my family: the father of my boy, my son,” Tamayo said. “And they are there to love me and support me, and I am thankful for that.”
One of the victims was Tamayo’s 9-year-old son, Matthew Farias, who died in her arms. Tamayo’s 28-year-old daughter, Jenevieve Raygoza, was also killed in the March 31 shooting.
On Wednesday, exactly five weeks after Tamayo was rushed to UCI Medical Center after suffering a gunshot wound to the head, she left wearing a shirt that had a photo of Matthew and a helmet to protect her skull.
“It’s a miracle,” Luis Tovar, her son, said. “She was injured pretty badly, and I’m just happy to have her back on Mother’s Day, finally. I’m just happy to have her back.”
Tovar said the bullet remained just above his mom’s ear.
“Anytime you have a trauma, a penetrating trauma, normally things there can have a very poor outcome,” Dr. Michael Lekawa, a trauma surgeon at UCI Medical Center, said. “So I think this is definitely a better outcome than you will often or usually see.”
Also killed were Tamayo’s former boyfriend 50-year-old Luis Tovar, with whom she shared a son, and her colleague Leticia Solis.
Tamayo praised everyone who cared for her as both she and her son remembered those lost.
“[Matthew’s] just an angel,” Tovar said. “And he’s with God, and we miss him a lot.”
Rafael Farias, Matthew’s father, has opened up his home to Tamayo while she recovers from the shooting. The pair co-parented their little boy.
“It’s a blessing she’s here, and I can see my son through her,” he said. “That’s my only child.”
The suspected shooter, 44-year-old Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, has been charged with four counts of murder.