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New York Hospital Nurse Helps Find Missing Man

New York Hospital Nurse Helps Find Missing Man

A Flushing man will be forever grateful to a persistent nurse for the safe return of his autistic brother who was reported missing on Jan. 3, 2024, after he went out on his daily walk to Flushing Meadows Corona Park and didn’t return. This moment of relief marked the end of a harrowing week-long search for Henry Chang, whose sudden disappearance had caused widespread alarm and concern for his family and community.

Henry Chang, 49, had been walking through his favorite park, not far from his home on Blossom Avenue, when something unexpected happened. While enjoying his routine walk, he suddenly suffered dizziness, fainted, and fell to the ground. The impact of his fall was serious, and EMS responded quickly to the scene. They transported Henry to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Queens for treatment and observation. But unbeknownst to his family, while Henry was being cared for in the hospital, his brother Johnny had no idea of his whereabouts and began to reach out to the public for help. The search for Henry intensified with no clear leads, and it wasn’t until a week later that they were finally reunited.

“So he was at New York-Presbyterian all that time but they kept him fed and ran all kinds of tests on him and a CT Scan showed he did not suffer a head injury, but he did separate his shoulder when he fell so he does have his arm in a sling,” Johnny Chang told QNS on Monday morning, one day after the NYPD announced his brother was “safe and had been returned home.”

The search for Henry Chang, who is on the autism spectrum, was complicated from the very beginning. Johnny faced the challenge of not having a recent photo of his brother to distribute, as Henry had always been reluctant to be photographed. To aid the search efforts, Johnny and his friends turned to artificial intelligence to create an updated image based on a much older photo of Henry. But even with these efforts, confusion continued to surround his disappearance due to a simple but critical mistake.

“But it turns out it was the name that he gave hospital staff that caused the confusion,” Chang said. “He gave them the name Michael Kim, which basically threw everyone who was searching for him off the trail. We were all looking for Henry or a John Doe, and the whole time he was registered at New York-Presbyterian as Michael Kim, which I came to realize later was a name that is sometimes sent to our home on junk mail. It’s not uncommon for autistic people to sometimes latch on to a name they have seen in the past and use it when they are scared or paranoid; it appears that is what happened to Henry. He gave his name as Michael Kim.”

The breakthrough came when a head nurse at the hospital, who had been diligently working on the case, found the Chang family’s Blossom Avenue home phone number and made an effort to reach out. Initially, Johnny did not recognize the number and was hesitant to answer, thinking it was just another call related to the search.

“At first I wasn’t returning her calls because I didn’t recognize her number and we were still searching for Henry, but she remained persistent and we spoke on Tuesday, Jan. 9, which is his [49th] birthday,” Chang said. “I guess you could say it was the best birthday present ever. When we spoke, she went to the room where he was staying and, as she talked to him, I could hear his voice in the background, and that’s when it clicked, and I knew it was him.”

Johnny is not blaming New York-Presbyterian Hospital Queens for his brother’s disappearance. He understands that hospitals often deal with various protocols, and in Henry’s case, the confusion with his name and the lack of clear identification made things difficult.

“I suppose once they realized his only injury was a separated shoulder, they could have released him and he would have found his way home because he is so familiar with the neighborhood,” Chang said. “And I guess in their defense, they were waiting for someone to pick up Michael Kim and pay his bills, but I will always be grateful to the nurse for not giving up until we had the chance to speak.”

Despite the miscommunication with the hospital and the initial confusion surrounding his brother’s disappearance, Johnny has no hard feelings towards the NYPD. He appreciates their professionalism, even though, as a family member, he naturally wanted answers as quickly as possible.

“This is New York City after all, there’s always something of consequence going on in this city,” Chang said. “I think the NYPD gets a bad rap from time to time but they were very professional and very helpful, they didn’t dismiss this like he was some Joe Schmoe. Do I feel they could have been more like the FBI? Of course, but I’m biased. He’s my family. Obviously, I wanted to find my brother right away as soon as possible but I don’t blame the police. I just wish the hospital had a better system in place for finding loved ones.”

Reflecting on the past week and the emotional rollercoaster of his brother’s disappearance, Johnny expressed his gratitude for the nurse’s persistence and the community’s support. Volunteers who helped search for Henry and the hospital staff who assisted in his care all played vital roles in bringing this story to a happy conclusion.

“Yeah, at least until his shoulder recovers from the injury,” Chang said. “I couldn’t say no because that would traumatize him because he enjoys walking around, and autistic people like to do their own thing. I suppose he’ll want to resume his walks but hopefully that will wait until it’s much warmer outside.”

In the meantime, Johnny can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that his brother, who had gone missing and caused the family so much worry, is now safe at home, recovering from his injury. As he reflects on the emotional toll of the ordeal, Johnny is just thankful for the safe return of his brother—his autistic brother—who is now back where he belongs.

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