Jesse’s Medical Care

14 days and counting, with no end in sight. Just after 6pm on Sunday the 29th, I received the call that no mother is ever prepared for. A random, good samaritan was calling to tell me that he was holding my child’s hand while applying pressure to his torso until the ambulance arrived. My son was the victim of a senseless act of violence. He was shot after being robbed of his empty wallet, coming back from the corner store at his friend’s house. The bullet entered below his left ribs, went through his spleen, pancreas, kidney, and hit his spine at L4, before exiting above the right upper buttock. My once very active teenager, is now lying in a hospital bed wondering if the pain is ever going to subside, or if he’s ever going to walk again from all of the nerve damage he has sustained. He continues to slowly improve every day, but this is just the beginning of a very long road ahead of us. He will be needing continuous medical care and assistance, physical therapy, and occupational therapy for at least the next year or so. The medical bills are piling up faster than I can keep track of and I’m just not sure where we go from here. This is just heartbreaking to watch your child look so defeated.