Vertical Relief

February 2025 | Vol. 69, No. 1
Written by Richard Donze, DO

Every time I hear the
in-coming chopper
after wondering who
might be going out
what head bleed ven-
tricle fail blasting mar-
row slashed viscus ARDS
needing ECMO I recall
that township hearing
when the Hilltop Estates
Homeowners’ Associa-

tion contingent lined up
at the mike then unfurled
the developer’s original
drawings on the long
table in front of the
commissioners faded
but still clearly showing
the vertical relief lines
and argued that their
elevation brought them
closer to the hospital’s
roof and that much

nearer the noise and
lights at all hours and
at only 25 miles to the
downtown trauma cen-
ter ground transport
had always been more
than enough but lost
by one vote so the heli-
pad came and the chop-
pers came and now when
they come besides won-
dering the what of what’s

going out I also wonder if
the who is ever a Hilltop-
per whose spouse child
parent will wait for the the
blades’ slow whirl to
whip up to vertical lift
then hop in a car and drive
those 25 miles of metro
traffic snarl white-knuck-
ling the steering wheel
with fear and hope with-
out time to recall ever

opposing it.