I was shot on an unseasonably warm Thursday afternoon, while my son and I were driving to pick up his brother from preschool. We took a detour to check out a community garden behind the school that also turned out to be a dead-end street.
As we were circling around, we got caught in the crossfire of a drive-by. A retaliation shooting.
Three bullets narrowly missed my son’s head, two hitting me, and the third was found lodged in my preschooler’s car seat. I live with chronic pain, loss of full function in my hand, PTSD and survivor guilt.
However, taking inspiration from other survivors, we’ve started a campaign to get copies of the children’s book “A Terrible Thing Happened” to kids impacted by violence in our community. We were able to donate over 400 copies to a local mental health agency that works specifically with families who witnessed violence.