what would be easier is one evemt saying if this sprite is touched replicate the arrow key touched
Well that would be the case if you used the function object, right?
on arrow key touched - call function
on sprite touched - call function
But I'm not sure why you'd want to replicate when all can be done in the same event with an "or"
Usually all other conditions which would prevent the "or" could be placed as sub-events, but yours might be a special case..
If you could share the event the way it is now, it would be much easier to explain..