Hospitals Exchange BBQ, Pizza After Disasters in Boston and Texas
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Courtesy 3 Stacks Smoke and Tap House(NEW YORK) — It all started when Dr. Chris Kabrhel, an emergency room physician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, sent pizza to the Hillcrest Hospital staff members in Frisco, Texas, to thank them for their hard work after the fertilizer plant explosion that killed 14 people and injured hundreds of others.
Kabrhel sent the pizza to Texas Friday night even though his own hospital had received 29 Boston Marathon bombing victims earlier in the week and were working with a smaller staff Friday because of the citywide lockdown that continued until the early evening.
“Thanks for all of your hard work,” the handwritten note says in black marker. “From one member of the E. R. family, Chris Kabrhel — Mass General Hospital.”
When Trace Arnold, who owns a newly opened barbecue joint, heard about it, he decided to return the favor — Texas style.
“For the medical staff in Boston to be so thoughtful in the middle of their own city’s tragedy and think about us down here in Texas was just awesome,” Arnold said in a statement.
Courtesy of his new restaurant, 3 Stacks Smoke and Tap House in Frisco, Arnold flew about five coolers of ribs to MGH on Tuesday. It arrived along with a giant, green Hillcrest Hospital flag that had been signed by 300 hospital employees offering words of encouragement.
“Literally, you can’t believe…you can’t believe the smiles on our staff’s faces right now,” Dr. Paul Biddinger, who directs emergency operations at MGH, said as he spoke to ABC News just before tucking into a plate of ribs.
Five bomb victims remain at MGH. Of the 28 patients admitted to Hillcrest Hospital on the Wednesday after the plant explosion, 24 have been discharged.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio