Cara Johns Fight for Life

Update: Cara is still in the ICU. She is in a medical induced coma to allow her to rest and for her brain to heal. Please continue to pray for her healing so she can pull through. Her family needs her.

Hi, I’m Sara Oswalt. Although I may not be a close friend of Cara I know her family dearly. They have supported me through the loss of my mom and this is the least I can do to support them. All funds donated to this Go Fund Me will be used to pay the medical bills and therapy accumulated.

“At 11:10 Saturday, April 15, 2023, our nightmare began. I was told my beautiful 16-year old daughter had been a shooting victim in the mass shooting at a birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama. I rushed to the local hospital only to discover Cara was not at that location. Because of the overwhelming chaotic situation, I had to search two more hospitals before discovering where she was. The physician in charge told us Cara's condition may not be survivable. This was a nightmare we couldn't awaken from. She had left in a beautiful prom dress but now she was covered in a bloody hospital sheet. Cara was then rushed by ambulance to a facility in Georgia that specialized in gunshot head injury. A bullet had penetrated her brain, passing through the frontal lobe and lodging there. She had to have immediate emergency surgery. But that wasn't all. She'd also been shot in the chest and in the stomach, three bullet wounds. Unbelievable and a miracle she was still living.”

Today, Cara continues to fight for her life, but we are immensely grateful she is alive though her condition is still critical, and tubes are connected to her little arms and other parts of her body while machines beep and gurgle. So many prayers have been lifted for Cara and the other victims of this tragedy, and sadly four of the young people did not survive their wounds. We grieve their loss. Our hearts and prayers are with their families.

We do not know what the future holds for our Cara. She has miles and miles to go before complete healing occurs, doctor visits, lengthy rehabilitation treatments, counseling, and more. Cara is a junior in high school, a cheerleader, and a worker in a local restaurant. We pray she will someday be able to return to her life before this unbelievable tragedy. We cannot begin to assess the length of treatments or the financial costs of these, but we have hope that as long as we have our Cara alive, we will be able to make it.