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That Onion Sure Stinks

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Emily Guendelsberger's leg was broken in Saturday's mob attack on North Broad St.
by , STAFF COLUMNIST @RonniePhilly | polaner@phillynews.com
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Ronnie Polaneczky

STAFF COLUMNIST

Ronnie Polaneczky, a journalist for 30 years, is a Metro columnist at the Daily News, where she has won numerous journalism awards for listening to the city she loves and telling its stories in ways that get to the heart of who we are. She is the 2015 winner of the Eugene C. Pulliam Journalism Fellowship for her coverage of elderly parents who are still responsible for the care of their intellectually disabled, aging children. You can watch her TEDxPhiladelphia Talk, "The Power of Deliberate Listening," at: https://youtu.be/A343tlP5iUA

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Emily Guendelsberger doesn't have health insurance, so she will be wholloped with medical bills associated with the surgery she needs to fix her leg, which was broken in last Saturday night's stampede of marauding teens down Broad St.

Guendelsberger is the local arts and entertainment editor for The Onion, the satirical news and entertainment site, and she is not covered under its health-care plan. My colleague Dan Gross asked an Onion spokeswoman if the company would help Guendelsberger with her bills anyway.

Here was the cagey answer.

"We can't divulge any details surrounding the compensation or benefits packages of our employees," Onion spokeswoman Anne Finn told Dan.  "We will say that when we heard about the events that transpired, we were shocked and saddened. Our hearts immediately went out to Emily and we wanted to leave the option for people to help her."

Isn't that wonderful? They wanted to "leave the option for people to help," not "leave the option for The Onion to help."

So they set up a PayPal account so that others - i.e., not The Onion - could help Guendelsberger.

Gets me feeling all warm and fuzzy.

Anyway, if you'd like to help Guendelsberger with her bills, click here and then click on the donate button. In the interest of full disclosure, I know Guendelsberger, as does everyone at The Daily News. She was a copy editor here for two years, and she is a cheerful, talented and lovely young woman who could use financial support right now. But if your wallet is feeling light, prayers for her speedy recovery are welcome, too. 

Meantime, my column today provided an update about Tom Fitzgerald, who was nearly beaten to death by a flash mob two years ago. His assailant was sentenced last week for the attack, which I wrote about back in June 2009, shortly after it happened. If you'd like to read that original column, click here.    

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