Doctors seek $100,000 to honor Chicago hospital shooting victim Dr. Tamara O’Neal
Money would go to help underrepresented minority students studying to become physicians.
Dave BangertLAFAYETTE, Ind. – A group of physicians who were friends of Dr. Tamara O’Neal, one of two Purdue University graduates killed at a Chicago hospital Monday, are looking to raise $100,000 in her honor to help underrepresented minority medical students at the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
“Nothing prepares one to lay your friend to rest in the middle of an ER shift,” nine physicians who called themselves the OHQ wrote on a GoFundMe.com crowd-funding site. “But that story is for another day.”
The OHQ, they wrote, stands for “One Hitter Quitters,” a phrase they said O’Neal coined for a group of minority doctors and medical students determined to demonstrate excellence by taking tests once, “and only once.” The group, the brain child of O’Neal, includes “young black physicians seeking to make their mark in a world that lacked so few.”
“Tamara was an incredible advocate, particularly for physicians of color or anyone that may have expressed an inkling of doubt,” they wrote, “as her disarming nature and warm smile made it easy for even the shyest aspiring doctor to inquire about the amazing job she loved, and in due time lend herself as a resource.”
Chicago police said O’Neal, 38, of LaPorte, Indiana, was the target of Monday’s attack by Juan Lopez, 32, her former fiancé who confronted her in a parking lot at Chicago Mercy Hospital. Lopez also killed Dayna Less, a pharmacist and 2018 Purdue graduate, and Chicago police officer Samuel Jimenez. Lopez also died.
O’Neal graduated from Purdue in 2002 with a degree in psychology. She later earned her medical degree at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. During her time at Purdue, O'Neal volunteered as an after-school tutor and mentor for at-risk youth in middle school and high school.
As of 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, the campaign had raised more than $16,700.
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