September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.  Read and share stories to honor survivors whose loved ones died by gun suicide.

239,437
total hearts received for Moments That Survive

Rhonda Golston

Three years ago, on January 28, 2017, I went to bed early because I was not feeling well. While lying in the bed around 10:15 p.m., I woke up to be struck by a bullet. When the paramedics arrived, they discovered that I was shot in back. They asked me to move my legs. I could not move my legs. The police discovered that five bullets came through the walls of my bedroom. My mom’s bedroom also had bullets in her walls. I was taken to the nearest hospital for treatment. Next I was put on a helicopter and taken to another hospital because of the severity of my injury. The very next day, two neurosurgeons told my dad that I had been shot in the spinal cord and that my vertebrae were shattered in three places. The doctors also told my dad I will never walk again. I did take physical therapy, and I’m able to walk briefly with AFO braces and a knee brace with a rollator or walker. My dad found out from the detectives that it was a gang shoot out between a Chicago and Gary gang.

Reacting shows support for gun violence survivors.

239,437