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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
National
Libor Jany

For gang outreach workers, wrestling with psychological scars now part of the battle

LOS ANGELES — Kevin "Twin" Orange can still recite the names of the ones he couldn't save, even if time has blurred his memory of when and where they died.

For years, whenever his phone rang with news of a shooting in his corner of South Los Angeles, the veteran gang interventionist would race to the scene to comfort grieving relatives and friends, while doing his best to tamp down any talk of retaliation.

But even as he tried to put on a strong face in front of others, the stress and trauma of more than a decade of peacemaking began to catch up to him. He had always kept those feelings bottled up, pride preventing him from asking for help.

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