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I’ve been very closely following this case since before we knew Luigi. However, I felt even more connected when he was caught. I’m also a young person that has battled similar chronic pain. The experience is the most isolating thing I’ve ever experienced. To be a seemingly healthy young person who carries the burden of living in extreme pain, doctors, parents, friends, etc. can’t really empathize with the experience, so it becomes internalized. I’ve had several phases of my life where I felt like not a single person was listening to me agonize over the pain I was experiencing daily because it’s so easy to delegitimize an invisible disability. I could talk about this in so much more detail, but just know that it is an extremely lonely road, and it’s very difficult to find support that isn’t disguised pity.

And this perpetuation is only made exponentially worse by the US healthcare system. It is absolutely abhorrent that we have so many people who are sick and fighting to advocate for themselves in their own heath, only to be delegitimized all over again by insurance companies if they actually are able to receive care, all for the purpose of profit.

Here’s a story of mine from recently. Over two years ago I had a planned surgery (not my first lol) because I had an injury in my area of disability that was making my pain unbearable and the injury needed to be repaired, even if my condition couldn’t be. I woke up from surgery to find out that a completely different procedure had been performed on me. A procedure was performed on me that I didn’t even know existed, and without my consent. Even worse, I got one of this doctor’s only bad outcomes from this procedure, and it’s increased my disability related pain significantly. I did rehab therapy for a year and a half, and I will still be treating the fallout from this surgery for the rest of my life. A few weeks ago, I got a hospital bill from early 2025 for $6,000. There was a clerical error from my insurance where they canceled my coverage for 20 days, and the cost of those rehab visits (5 visits) was $6,000. Instead of correcting the issue and paying for the services that I was covered for, they offered to give me a credit for my premium that month. I’m still responsible for that bill (and fighting it). I am responsible for a bill for medical services that I was covered for, and for treatment that I only needed because I was a victim of medical malpractice. What the fuck find of system is that??

I remember immediately feeling empathetic, righteous rage when this crime occurred. I think of the Max Weber quote, “A government is an institution that holds a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence.” What are we to do a society when the government has created a system to profit off of keep us sick, in pain, broke, and without recourse? I understand aversion to violence, and I very clearly understand the concept of law and order. But what is to be done to see change? It’s an impossible issue. Our government not only has a monopoly on the human right of literal health, but they also have a monoloply on use of violence and how violence is to be punished in their eyes. It’s a losing battle. It’s a system built to keep us in a cage.

And piling onto the heartbreak for me is that I have dedicated my life to the legal system. It almost feels personal to have watched it be weaponized in such a way, all for the purposes of showmanship and selfish greed. I know that this is not a novel occurrence and people have been victimized by the system for centuries, but watching the abuse in a case that hit so close to home was jarring.

Anyways, I feel a bit discombobulated. I pretty much knew that this ultimate outcome would happen, but I was shocked to be hit with such a wave of anger and sadness when I reminded of the reason that we even got to this point. Our system is sick, and it seems like there’s no cure for it. In my opinion, Luigi will always go down as a symbol of hope and advocacy against an impossible systemic operation.