Pilado After Pulse

Posted on by Thor

Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse Nightclub Massacre on June 12, 2016. It may contain sensitive and difficult to read content. Post written with narrator’s consent.  

Michael Pilado and Chimene Pinder-Hurst were interviewed in the History Center in the One Year Later exhibit space about the Pulse Nightclub Massacre community response.

Michael believes that art should be about community and healing. He works with painter Yuriy Karabasch. When Pulse happened Mikael was working on a Mural in Williamsport Pennsylvania that had over 700 inspirational people depicted. That day he painted the Florida state bird which is the Mocking Jay. The Jay holds a stick with 5 strings with 49 orange blossoms. Members of the LGBT community came out to paint the orange blossoms.

Deborah Bidel the head of the post traumatic stress disorder program of UCF called and asked him to paint Juan Ramon Guerrero and Christopher “Drew” Leinonen together and put their names in it.

He then got a call from Chimene Hurst and she asked him if he could come to Orlando to do some of his healing projects. As she was calling, a hawk flew overhead and he saw it a a sign to come to Orlando. Yuriy and Michael for the last eight years have been traveling the world creating a series of murals which will connect on the internet becoming the world mural. Each mural’s title is Inspiration with the name of the place. Here he worked on Inspiration Orlando. When he got to Orlando he and Chimene went looking for wall, talking to many business owners. They found about 30 possible walls for murals.  They wanted to find 49 locations. They spoke with the LGBT community, the Latino community and with the city. In Orlando he developed the recipe for how to do the world mural.

Chimene and Michael were at the Dr. Phillips Center where thousands of objects were left on the front lawn for the 49 who had died. Chimene asked the 49 angels if they could guide them to where they should go next to make the project a reality. Immediately when she turned around she saw a friend. She asked her if she had any walls for a mural and Chuan said yes. They went up to a property on Mills and 50 to look at a possible mural site. Michael noticed an upstairs deserted space and asked about it. It had been abandoned for years but it would eventually become the art studio where mural panels were created. As they were looking at the property a hawk flew overhead. That hawk moved into a tree next to Avalon just as Michael moved into the art studio. Synchronicity and trust are what founded the project.

Juan and Drew were panted in front of Mathew Sheppard,  Drews mom entered the studio and asked why he had chosen to paint Drew in front of Mathew. He explained it was because of the composition. She told him a story, When Drew was younger he and his mom met Mathews mother. Drew was so impressed with ho open Mathews mom was about her son being gay that he decided it was time for him to come out to his mom.

Patience Carter was placed next to authors like Billy Manes. Patience Carter read a beautiful poem from her hospital bed about survivors guilt.  A heart with Jason Josaphat was right above her. Jason is the one who jumped in front of her, not even knowing her and took the bullets that took his life, saving her.

Months had gone by where they struggled to find a place for the mural but in that time Michaael had not picked up a brush. They were so lost in the planning that the creation had been pushed aside. Chimene told Michael, ‘Just start painting.’ He brought marine grade panels and started to piece together the mural in the studio. Rather than finding the wall and fitting the mural to the wall they started creating without concern about the final destination. Funding the project was a struggle, from cockroaches. leaky ceilings to termites to rats. Michael and Chimene funded what they could. The struggle has been a joy as well.

The mural is 36 feet by 12 feet. At the time of the interview Michael said there was one more month of work to be done on it. The plan for the big mural if the wall is available is that it would be 130 feet by 40 feet. Another connecting wall would be 100 feet by 24 feet. The large mural would have augmented reality elements that could be seen with cell phones. The first mural was done as a sketch so some figure sizes and proportions aren’t perfect. The final mural would be more refined. The possibilities are endless.

Pulse Survivor: Laura Vargas

Posted on by Thor

Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse Nightclub Massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content. Post written with narrator’s consent.  

Laura Vargas survived the Pulse Nightclub Massacre that happened on June 12, 2016. Laura was at the club that night with Luis Vielma who was one of the 49 victims of the shooting.

Laura and Luis both worked at Universal Studios. Laura began working at Halloween Horror Nights at the Walking Dead House. Luis was transferred from the Disaster ride to Halloween Horror Nights. They hit it off and began hanging out together outside of work. Eventually Laura left Universal to work for her father’s accounting company in Miami.

Laura came back to Orlando From Miami for a Universal Studios awards ceremony. Luis didn’t have a date, so he invited Laura to be his for the ceremony. She got to Orlando on Friday June 10, 2016. On Saturday they went to Kiki’s for breakfast and then Artegon to go to a comic book store opening. She had a rewards voucher for Rainforest Cafe and so they had a fabulous dinner there.

A friend called her and asked if se would be interested in going dancing at Pulse that night. She hesitated, not having prepared for a night out. She asked Luis if he was up for it and he said, “Sure why not?” They got home, changed, and left about 11:30pm so it wasn’t going to be a very long night. On the way to the club Luis called another friend and invited him as well. They all got to the club about 12:15AMish.

It was a whole new world, there were people everywhere. The music was salsa and meringue. This could be a fun night. Laura got the first round. Luis would get the second round. They usually only get 2 drinks since there was driving involved. It was a fun night.

Luis was going to drive so Laura got her last drink about 2am. As she was putting her debit card back in her wallet she heard popping. People were running. Her view was blocked by a wall. She looked around the corner and saw a man reloading his gun. She ran back to Luis. She said to him, “This is for real, this isn’t part of the show, there is a man in here with a gun, what do we do?” He said, “Just keep your voice down and get on the floor and do as he says.” That is what they did.

Luis slid against the wall and let himself slide down, and hugged his legs and hid his face. As she was getting on the ground face first, she felt the first shot which entered her lower back and exited through her thigh. She fell with her whole body weight. She heard three more shots next to her. Luis was there as well as three other girls so she assumed they each had been shot. The pain was indescribable. She kept hearing screaming in Spanish, “Please god, what is this? Please don’t let him kill me, save me.” Within two minutes the room went silent with flashing lights. She could her the  gunman’s heavy footsteps and the occasional shooting.

She was moving on the floor trying to get comfortable when she felt footsteps approaching her again.  She felt a shoe standing next to her. Her body shook from a second shot which hit her mid right side of her back and it went straight through.  Her ears began to ring. She pretended to be dead since it was clear the gunman’s goal was to kill. When he walked away she managed to get her phone out and she called her ex. Her ex called back which could have drawn the gunman’s attention to them. With no answer, the ex stopped calling and later went to Pulse.

Laura then waited for voices of police. She prayed. It felt like an hour. She began to hear footsteps and heard “Alpha team go left.” She looked over her left shoulder, and she said “Please help me. “He gave her a signal to be quiet. The police then announced, “If there are any survivors that can get up and walk out, then go now.” About 8-10 people ran out. What remained was a sea of bodies. She couldn’t see Luis. An officer then said, “start taking out survivors.” Laura managed to flip over and get in the way of an officer. The female officer and another officer pulled Laura out. The female officer grabbed Laura’s wrists and she said, this is going to hurt very much but you need to stay quiet because the shooter is still in the building.” She was pulled through glass, blood, and vomit. Things cut her back as she was dragged. She was picked up and placed in the back of a pick up truck. She was asked to roll over to make room for another shooting victim who was limp and in very bad shape and the truck took off. An officer was hanging off the truck and he told the guy next to her “Don’t die on me, hang in there.” Her ex called on the truck ride and she was told by the officer that they were going to ORMC. That was the last she had her phone and wallet. She was holding on to her possessions so they could identify her body.

Six nurses took her into the hospital. They cut off her clothes and asked each other, “How many gun shots?” She realized she had not died at the club but realized she might die in the hospital as she waited for her turn in triage. She blacked out and woke up with doctors working on her again. She was taken to a room with several other patients from Pulse.

She heard popping again. She thought,  “He is coming back to kill the rest of us.”  A doctor said something like, ‘This is a code black, this is not a drill, do what you were taught and stay with your patients.” The curtains were closed, and doors locked. She asked a nurse to hold her hand. She was terrified. The shots were actually from the club which was just a few blocks south of the hospital.

She was in the hospital for 11 days with tubes and catheters. She could not eat or drink anything since her stomach had been shot. Therapy dogs were the only thing that could calm the pain and hunger. Pulse survivors were registered at the hospital with alias names so it was a challenge for family to get in.

The gun shots affected her small intestines, her stomach, and her liver. In surgery, a nurse grabbed her head and said, “It’s all right we are going to save your life, now count back from ten for me.” She was thankful that she would not feel any more pain. She woke up with a tube down her thought and saw her ex and her mom. Her hands were bound so she would not rip out the intubation tube. She signaled to a nurse that she wanted to write a note and she wrote, “where is Luis?’”She was told he was in surgery though no one knew where he was. She didn’t find out Luis had died until two days later when she had to go in for a second surgery. She had called a friend since she suspected the staff was keeping her in the dark. She asked her friend, “Have you heard from Luis?” Her friend let out a long sigh and said, “Has no one told you?” It was bad. Luis Sergio Vielma was one of the 49 lives taken on that horrible night.

Healthcare Heroes

Posted on by Thor

Beginning Monday, June 7, 2021, the Orange County Regional History Center (65 E. Central Blvd.
Orlando, Florida 32801) presents Healthcare Heroes: Portraits of Orlando Health’s Front line Workers, a group of thirteen large, stunning portraits by Central Florida-based artist Nelson Cárdenas that will be on display in the museum’s atrium through August 15, 2021.

Cárdenas, who is also a cook at the Orlando Health Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, created the portraits of Orlando Health employees using oil paints and a technique called pyrography, which uses blowtorches. His artwork honors and provides an intimate look at the community’s front line healthcare staff who have worked tirelessly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the opening, Nelson pulled out a scroll which he said was a list of what inspired him to do the project. He pointed out, that if inspiration were a switch, it would always be on. On the scroll was a long list of names of healthcare workers who had helped save lives for the past 12months during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he was humbles to see his work on display at the History Center. As he put it, this was every artist’s dream.

Reverend Kathy Schmitz: After Pulse

Posted on by Thor

Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse Nightclub Massacre on June 12, 2016. It may contain sensitive and difficult to read content. Post written with narrator’s consent.  

Reverend Kathy Schmitz is from the First Unitarian Church. The church provided grief counseling for many first responders after the Pulse Nightclub Massacre.

On June 11, 2016 an intern at the church as doing the last service. When Kathy got out of bed she felt relaxed and she checked the headlines. She saw that there had been a shooting on Orange Avenue. She did not know Pulse at the time. She thought, maybe this was a drug deal gone wrong. She didn’t know the scale of what had happened.

At 7:45, the intern called and mentioned the headlines. They decided that the intern would start the service and then have the children’s story early which wold open up the service to just the adults. Details were still scarce. The first details about the scale of the event didn’t come out until 10AM and the service was at 11AM. People stated showing up for service early. She monitored things from the back row while the intern gave her sermon.

Logan Donahue is a member of the church and he arranged to connect Kathy with the Center’s director Terry DeCarlo. The blood mobile just happened to be at the church that morning. She called the hospital to see if they needed chaplains but they were covered. Just after 11AM Dr. David Hargove asked if the church could provide space for counseling for a couple of days. The church has six classrooms which could be used. Counseling began at 1PM that day. Dr. Hargrove had 600 licensed therapist volunteers on his list. The rooms were constantly staffed. In some ways it was just as important for the counselors to be there. They helped each other in coming to terms with what they would have to deal with inn the coming weeks.

Donations began to pile up at the church. Food was donated to the coalition of the homeless. The Tom Brady campaign was looking for space, Equality Florida ended up using the library as a community organizing space. The church staff stepped up to the plate to make it all work. On the first night they were warned against having vigils because there were safety issue. In the library people were gathered trying to arrange a vigil for Monday June 13, 2016. The city was saying, ‘Don’t do it.’ Someone dialed the Mayor Buddy Dyer at 11PM. They left a message saying ‘There is going to be a vigil, we need to find a way to make it work.’ The next morning the mayors office called with multiple people on the line and they said, ‘OK we here that there has to be a vigil but give us an hour to find a location.’ The location was changed from the Lake Eola Bandshell to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

Then the media began it’s barrage of interview requests. About 20 church staff and volunteers went to the Dr. Phillips Center to help set up  for the vigil. She was involved with the vigil. She spoke prior to the tolling of the bells. The bells were on a timer. The program was running behind. There was a rush to get her on stage but then they found out the bells had been reprogrammed. It was hot. She wasn’t certain exactly when the bells would ring so she had to time what she said. Improv classes she had takes at SAK helped keep her on track. She asked all gathered to take a moment to reflect prior to the ringing. She felt responsible for holding the space for 7000 people. The ringing of those bells for about 8 minutes was the most intense moment of her life.

Interfaith After Pulse

Posted on by Thor

Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse Nightclub Massacre on June 12, 2016. It may contain sensitive and difficult to read content. Post written with narrator’s consent.  

Imam Taric Rashid was highly involved in Interfaith and Muslim community in the aftermath of the Pulse Nightclub shooting.

It was Ramadan in June of 2016, and Rashid had finished his early prayer. He got home about 8AM. As he settled in for a nap he decided to check the news on his iPhone. CNN was reporting about a shooting at Pulse.

Shortly after he got a call from law enforcement. They asked if everyone in the community was safe. They told him to be on alert and call if anything seemed wrong around the mosque. From then on they ere in touch. There was a concern about the safety of the mosque. During Ramadan attendance is high so security had to be hired.

Iman Rashid went to the Pulse site. There were many Muslim counselors fir the survivors. They brought food and drinks.

For the next month, his schedule became incredibly busy. He was everywhere holding interfaith activities,, going to churches, and trying to stress that the violence has nothing to do with Muslim faith. The shooter was an outsider from Fort Pierce Florida.

Media from all over the world descended on the mosque. Everyday there were interviews. The mosque worked with county a and city officials. It was a hectic time. Hate filled e-mails and answering machine messages began surfacing. There was a concern that there might be a backlash much like after 9-11. Law enforcement tracked down some of the suspects. Much of his efforts were in convincing people that it is fine to go to the mosque to pray.  Despite this attendance dropped.

Candle light vigils and special prayer services were held at the mosque. They were interfaith services with Jews, Christians and Muslims. He held an interfaith service on the evening after the shooting. It was organized in two hours and he didn’t expect people to come but he was shocked but the huge crowd many from the LGBT community. The candlelight vigil was held next to the road and traffic came to a stop. For the next 20 minute they preyed. It was a moment for all faiths to pray for peace. united in condemning these acts of violence.

Pastor Vallo

Posted on by Thor

Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse Nightclub Massacre on June 12, 2016. It may contain sensitive and difficult to read content. Post written with narrator’s consent.  

Pastor Paul Vallo‘s Christ Unity Church, provided immediate response to first responders in the aftermath of the Pulse Nightclub shooting for 11 days in June of 2016.

The church was outgrowing the property they had on Orange Avenue but, when the pulse attack took place and the congregation at Christ Unity had the chance to respond, they felt like it crystalized the reason why they were there. They had a unique ability to respond to a need in the community. The church has always been about community outreach.

On the morning of June 12, 2016, Pastor Vallo was contacted and told that there was a shooting at Pulse but no one knew the extent of the incident. The Pastor, staff and volunteers arrive very early in the morning to the church. Many had trouble getting to the church since the church was behind police lines. Many had to walk on foot to try and get past police lines. There clearly was no way that there could be services that day.

Staff and volunteers gathered, and prayed for the victims. Immediately after prayers they went to the front doors and watched all the first responders who were walking up and down the sweltering street. The church has a cafe, so they took all the food and supplies and they put it out on the street. They stood outside and told people passing by that they should let people know that they had food at the church.  Volunteers worked to get more food and water to the church. The evening of the attack the church held a prayer vigil. The sanctuary was full. For the next 11 days they served first responders around the clock. A christian church needs to show compassion.

The media wasn’t allowed to come in. They wanted the church to be a sanctuary. It was a place where first responders could decompress, get out of the heat, get some good food. Restaurants began to respond and people donated amazing home cooked meals. They had enough to feed hundreds of people.

On woman from Orlando Police Department said she hadn’t slept or eaten anywhere for four days except in the church. Some people did not go to the prayer vigil because they feared the area might not be safe, but the pastor never felt fear. He sensed the anxiety, but they were behind police lines for a week and a half.  The Florida Governor Rick Scott conduced much of his work from inside the church.

Pastor Vallo was interviewed by BBC and CNN. Most of his efforts were focused on meeting the needs of first responders. At a vigil at SODO development next to the church, some people were asking, how do we make sense of this? He responded, You can’t make sense of a mad man. There is no reason, there is no logic. The only thing that could be done was to respond to it, rather than try and figure it out. We can not become the children of the shooter’s hatred. We have to respond with the opposite, with love, kindness and compassion.

A man who lives directly behind the Pulse Nightclub, had not left his home for four days after the shooting. He was having a panic attack in the yard. On the evening of the shooting it was like being in a war zone. Through the blinds he saw people running through the yard screaming covered in blood. Many people on the street hadn’t left their houses. They still were not sure what was going on outside. For weeks afterwards the pastor and others began going door to door doing wellness checks. If people needed medicine or food they helped find the resources. Some had no other need other than to talk about it.

Amanda Alvear

Posted on by Thor

Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse Nightclub Massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content. Post written with narrator’s consent.  

On March31, 2017 Pam Schwartz of the Orange County Regional History Center conducted an oral history with Myra Alvear the mother of Amanda Alvear who was one of the 49 victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting that happened on June 12, 2016. With Myra was Antonio Alvear, who is Amanda’s older brother.

Amanda had two jobs and went to college. She was pursuing a nursing career. She wanted to become a midwife. She was very outgoing and always available for friends and family. She had a perfect mix of being comforting but firm. She had hundreds of followers inn Instagram where she shared her workouts. She inspired people to loose weight.

Amanda loved going to Pulse to met friends. It was a safe place for her.

On June 12, Amanda watched Brian’s two daughters for the day and when they went to sleep at her mom’s she knew she could go out with friends. Amanda’s father, Daniel Alvear, was the first to hear the news at 7:30AM when Nancy called and said that there had been a shooting at Pulse. He turned on the TV news and called Brian. Daniel looked at his wife asleep and didn’t want to wake her up. She had already lost a child to cancer, how could he tell her. He didn’t want to deliver this bomb. Brian was in denial hoping she was with friends. News stations were already starting to call. Brian was using social media in the hopes of finding his sister. Amanda’s phone must have had 8000 text messages. She was not responding.

Myra and Daniel went to try and get news about Amanda. They ere sent to a hotel which was a nightmare in itself. Maybe Amanda was at the hospital and unconscious. Her name wasn’t showing up. When Myra and Daniel got back home, Myra just went to Amanda’s room and lay down. The people that were not on the list of verified or taken to the hospital, were likely still inside the club. There was a bomb scare as well. They couldn’t get everybody out.

Amanda wouldn’t hide, she would have to get all her friends out. She was a fighter like her mom.

Myra became an activist after loosing Amanda. She wants to help others. She founded Hugs Not Hate. The family had a chance to no only grieve, but fight for something. At a vigil for Amanda and Mercedez Marisol Flores, Myra spoke and then hugged everybody that was there. At Amanda’s funeral she also hugged everybody. Myra needed to find out how the other families were doing and she also found those who had been injured. Every day should would try to find out who was at the hospital. She needed to reach out. Everyone was grieving in their own way. She wants the legacy to be of love, not hate.

Narcoossee’s

Posted on by Thor

This would be the first time Pam and I have eaten out at a restaurant since the beginning of the pandemic. Pam had family visiting Disney and they invited us to Narccooee’s at the Grand Floridian.

Disney still requires guests to wear masks at all times except when eating. Pam’s family reported that they had all been vaccinated, but the younger boys who were seated at the far end of the table were below the vaccination age bracket.

Eating out requires trust as we all navigate a strange grey area. Pam felt comfortable since the table spacing was decent and the waiters all wore masks and face shields. I remain undecided since I am unsure of how ventilation is handled in the restaurant.  I have to remind myself that my chances of getting infected are just 5% since I am fully vaccinated. Every sketch outing will be a case of risk analysis moving forward.

Lori was seated next to me and she is an artist herself. Her mom showed me a sketch done while the pastor was giving a sermon. Lori would interpret the sermon as a series of illustrations. She showed me a storyboard and animatic  college assignment on her phone and there was some compelling animated transitions. She is also deeply into robotics and I got to see some of her teams creations at work. I showed her a recently completed animation but the soundtrack was impossible to hear over the background noise in the restaurant. Until that moment I hadn’t realized just how loud the place was. I love creating to this excited sound of people gathering and socializing. Ive missed that energy.

I sketched quickly before the food arrived at the table, ignoring bread and appetizers. The meal was amazing. I ordered scallops served with Gnocchi. The dish had a delicious smoky flavor. Desert was a carrot cake with boba and some sweet smear on the plate. One of my most terrifying experiences prior to this evening was sucking up some boba through a wide straw while drinking a bubble tea. It was like sucking eyeballs into my mouth. I have since refrained from ever again eating boba. Destiny agreed to take the eyeballs off my plate.

In the lake outside the windows a parade of floats lit up with sea creatures like sea horses pulling Poseidon, dolphins leaping, an octopus and the Loch Ness Monster. Later all the floats were illuminated with American Flags. I was a bit disappointed that none of the floats were illuminated with a giant COVID virus.

Community: 5 Years After the Pulse Tragedy

Posted on by Thor

COMMUNITY: 5 Years After the Pulse Tragedy is on exhibit May 29 to August 15, 2021, at the Orange County Regional History Center (65 E. Central Blvd.
Orlando, Florida 32801.)

The Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016 and the subsequent response forever changed Orlando – exemplified by the immense outpouring of support and love shown by locals in the days, months, and years that followed. However, the impact of the tragedy was not limited to the physical boundaries of Central Florida.

The History Center’s 2021 remembrance exhibition, examines how communities of all kinds were touched both locally and across the globe. Visitors will follow the story of Pulse nightclub, from its earliest conception through 2016, as well as the response to the devastating event and the lasting impact in the time since. Through the telling of this important part of our collective history, the museum seeks to celebrate the spirit of community and honor the 49 victims and all of those affected.

To ensure that this exhibition is accessible to the entire community, the History Center will offer free admission June 5 -13, 2021. The white memorial crosses will be available for viewing June 11-13, 2021. The exhibit was partly sponsored by The Contigo Fund.

On June 4, 2021 there will be a Lunch & Learn program at the museum: Pulse: Looking Back Over the Past Five Years. This is a free program through the Zoom platform. You can register and learn more online.

Former Orange County Mayor Theresa Jacobs

Posted on by Thor

Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse Nightclub Massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content. Post written with narrator’s consent.  

Former Orange County Mayor Theresa Jacobs knew nothing of the Pulse Nightclub before June 12, 2016. She had driven past many times, but didn’t know it was a nightclub.

The events that unfolded in the 24 your after the mass shooting that took the lives of 49 Orlando citizens. The morning of the shooting her primary thought was, “This can not be happening.” Her husband woke her up. There was a sense of urgency. The next moment she was on the phone with a sheriff’s deputy.  It might have been abut 5AM. Her next thoughts were how quickly can I get out the door and what do we need to do. There is some comfort in being able to do something.

It was so unbelievable that something that horrible could happen. She remember when the numbers jumped from 20 to close to 50.

Parking was a nightmare as she and an officer looked for the command center. Walking down the street she saw a bloody tennis shoe. Her heart sank. The intellectual part of her shut down any feelings and she got to work. The Orange County safety director was on site. He is also an emergency room physician at Orlando Regional Medical Center. He wasn’t on duty the night of the shooting but he was with her on the ground.  Initially one of the concerns was, are there still people inside who might have a pulse and can still be rescued.  The building was not secure, there was talk of bombs. Her primary job was to inform the public. There was an unfolding trauma throughout the community and throughout the nation.

The next step in the process was to try and connect family members with survivors. They estimated it might take 5 to 7 days to go through the autopsies. Family members did not know for certain the status of their loved ones. One survivor was in the hospital in a coma. He did not have ID on him. Over the next two days they tried to determine who he was and how to contact his family.

She walked out to brief the media with Chief Mina. There were so many cameras. People were sitting on the street. When Mina announced the numbers people couldn’t believe it. Someone shouted out “15”. They had misheard him assuming it had to be 15 since the numbers prior had been 20. No one could comprehend the number.