Ohio school shooting survivor has bullets in cheek and neck

Ohio school shooting survivor Nick Walczak is partially paralyzed with bullets lodged in his cheek and neck, but that doctors are "cautiously optimistic" that he will walk again, the teen's mother said today.

Walczak, 17, was one of five high school students shot in a rampage at Chardon High School on Monday by accused shooter T.J. Lane. Three students--Demetrius Hewlin, Russell King Jr. and Daniel Parmertor--died from their wounds.

Another wounded student, Joy Rickers, has been released from the hospital. Walczak remains hospitalized.

Walczak's mother Holly Walczak told a news conference that she believes her son was shot four times: twice in the neck, through the arm and in the back.

Walczak's brother previously told ABC News that his brother had no feeling below his chest.

"He has a bullet still in his cheek and his neck," Holly Walczak said. "He's just getting feeling back in his legs. It's going to be a really slow process, they said. He's going to need spine therapy. The surgeon said they're cautiously optimistic."

Nick Walczak's went into spinal shock after the shooting, but doctor's hope he will be able to walk again.

"He's strong, he's brave and his age really makes a big difference. I know he can do it," his mother said.

She said his son has been conscious throughout the ordeal and knows that his friends have died.

"We really try not to talk about it at this point. It's a little too traumatic for him," she said. "It's kind of a blur, at this point."

Holly Walczak spoke at a news conference along with the families of Hewlin and Parmertor and mentioned the guilt she feels since her son survived the attack.

"The families that have had the losses...it's a guilty [feeling] for me because they lost and my son was saved. I think that's the hardest part for me. I feel for them every minute, every hour," she said.

The mom credits teacher Joseph Ricci for saving her son's life by dragging him into another room after he was shot and caring for him until paramedics arrived.

"He is the person that saved my son's life. He pulled him from the hallway into a room. He is forever our hero," Walczak said. "He's remarkable. I can't believe it. Nick would be the fourth victim, otherwise."

Speaking of her son's slain friends, Walczak said, "Danny, Russell and Demetrius--they're awesome young men and their lives were ended early, but it's not in vain. They left a mark on all of our lives and I just keep praying for them and for Nick."

Nick Walczak's brother Josh Walczak, 20, said that when he heard about the shooting and that his brother had been involved, he didn't know what to think.

"I saw him in the hospital and it was the worst day of my life," Josh Walczak said.

"He's my best friend. The kid is full of spirit. He's always in a good mood," he said of his brother. "Our relationship is going to get a million times stronger after this. I'll definitely be with him every step of the way from here on out."

Victim Demetrius Hewlin's mother Phyllis Ferguson also spoke and gave an update on her son.

"They took him this morning five minutes to eight to take his organs, so I'm having a hard time," Ferguson said as she choked back tears. "This was the last time I got to see him before they do what they do to him."

Ferguson said that one of the recipients of Hewlin's organs would be a child who was in the pediatric unit and only had a few days to live without a transplant. She was proud that her son would be able to save lives with his own, as he had wanted.

Ferguson also specified that her 16-year-old son was shot in the head.

She told ABC News on Wednesday that she had forgiven suspected shooter T.J. Lane.

"I would tell him I forgive him because, a lot of times, they don't know what they're doing. That's all I'd say," Ferguson said.

"I taught Demetrius not to live in the past, to live in today and forgiveness is divine. You have to forgive everything. God's grace is new each and every day," she said. "Until you've walked in another person's shoes, you don't know what made him come to this point."

Students and parents gathered in the center of Chardon today to march back to the school together. The school was open today a walk through and parents and students were encouraged to come together. On Friday, school will be back in session.

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Ohio school shooting survivor has bullets in cheek and neck

Ohio school shooting survivor Nick Walczak is partially paralyzed with bullets lodged in his cheek and neck, but that doctors are "cautiously optimistic" that he will walk again, the teen's mother said today.

Walczak, 17, was one of five high school students shot in a rampage at Chardon High School on Monday by accused shooter T.J. Lane. Three students--Demetrius Hewlin, Russell King Jr. and Daniel Parmertor--died from their wounds.

Another wounded student, Joy Rickers, has been released from the hospital. Walczak remains hospitalized.

Walczak's mother Holly Walczak told a news conference that she believes her son was shot four times: twice in the neck, through the arm and in the back.

Walczak's brother previously told ABC News that his brother had no feeling below his chest.

"He has a bullet still in his cheek and his neck," Holly Walczak said. "He's just getting feeling back in his legs. It's going to be a really slow process, they said. He's going to need spine therapy. The surgeon said they're cautiously optimistic."

Nick Walczak's went into spinal shock after the shooting, but doctor's hope he will be able to walk again.

"He's strong, he's brave and his age really makes a big difference. I know he can do it," his mother said.

She said his son has been conscious throughout the ordeal and knows that his friends have died.

"We really try not to talk about it at this point. It's a little too traumatic for him," she said. "It's kind of a blur, at this point."

Holly Walczak spoke at a news conference along with the families of Hewlin and Parmertor and mentioned the guilt she feels since her son survived the attack.

"The families that have had the losses...it's a guilty [feeling] for me because they lost and my son was saved. I think that's the hardest part for me. I feel for them every minute, every hour," she said.

The mom credits teacher Joseph Ricci for saving her son's life by dragging him into another room after he was shot and caring for him until paramedics arrived.

"He is the person that saved my son's life. He pulled him from the hallway into a room. He is forever our hero," Walczak said. "He's remarkable. I can't believe it. Nick would be the fourth victim, otherwise."

Speaking of her son's slain friends, Walczak said, "Danny, Russell and Demetrius--they're awesome young men and their lives were ended early, but it's not in vain. They left a mark on all of our lives and I just keep praying for them and for Nick."

Nick Walczak's brother Josh Walczak, 20, said that when he heard about the shooting and that his brother had been involved, he didn't know what to think.

"I saw him in the hospital and it was the worst day of my life," Josh Walczak said.

"He's my best friend. The kid is full of spirit. He's always in a good mood," he said of his brother. "Our relationship is going to get a million times stronger after this. I'll definitely be with him every step of the way from here on out."

Victim Demetrius Hewlin's mother Phyllis Ferguson also spoke and gave an update on her son.

"They took him this morning five minutes to eight to take his organs, so I'm having a hard time," Ferguson said as she choked back tears. "This was the last time I got to see him before they do what they do to him."

Ferguson said that one of the recipients of Hewlin's organs would be a child who was in the pediatric unit and only had a few days to live without a transplant. She was proud that her son would be able to save lives with his own, as he had wanted.

Ferguson also specified that her 16-year-old son was shot in the head.

She told ABC News on Wednesday that she had forgiven suspected shooter T.J. Lane.

"I would tell him I forgive him because, a lot of times, they don't know what they're doing. That's all I'd say," Ferguson said.

"I taught Demetrius not to live in the past, to live in today and forgiveness is divine. You have to forgive everything. God's grace is new each and every day," she said. "Until you've walked in another person's shoes, you don't know what made him come to this point."

Students and parents gathered in the center of Chardon today to march back to the school together. The school was open today a walk through and parents and students were encouraged to come together. On Friday, school will be back in session.

Also Read

View the original article here

Ohio school shooting survivor has bullets in cheek and neck

Ohio school shooting survivor Nick Walczak is partially paralyzed with bullets lodged in his cheek and neck, but that doctors are "cautiously optimistic" that he will walk again, the teen's mother said today.

Walczak, 17, was one of five high school students shot in a rampage at Chardon High School on Monday by accused shooter T.J. Lane. Three students--Demetrius Hewlin, Russell King Jr. and Daniel Parmertor--died from their wounds.

Another wounded student, Joy Rickers, has been released from the hospital. Walczak remains hospitalized.

Walczak's mother Holly Walczak told a news conference that she believes her son was shot four times: twice in the neck, through the arm and in the back.

Walczak's brother previously told ABC News that his brother had no feeling below his chest.

"He has a bullet still in his cheek and his neck," Holly Walczak said. "He's just getting feeling back in his legs. It's going to be a really slow process, they said. He's going to need spine therapy. The surgeon said they're cautiously optimistic."

Nick Walczak's went into spinal shock after the shooting, but doctor's hope he will be able to walk again.

"He's strong, he's brave and his age really makes a big difference. I know he can do it," his mother said.

She said his son has been conscious throughout the ordeal and knows that his friends have died.

"We really try not to talk about it at this point. It's a little too traumatic for him," she said. "It's kind of a blur, at this point."

Holly Walczak spoke at a news conference along with the families of Hewlin and Parmertor and mentioned the guilt she feels since her son survived the attack.

"The families that have had the losses...it's a guilty [feeling] for me because they lost and my son was saved. I think that's the hardest part for me. I feel for them every minute, every hour," she said.

The mom credits teacher Joseph Ricci for saving her son's life by dragging him into another room after he was shot and caring for him until paramedics arrived.

"He is the person that saved my son's life. He pulled him from the hallway into a room. He is forever our hero," Walczak said. "He's remarkable. I can't believe it. Nick would be the fourth victim, otherwise."

Speaking of her son's slain friends, Walczak said, "Danny, Russell and Demetrius--they're awesome young men and their lives were ended early, but it's not in vain. They left a mark on all of our lives and I just keep praying for them and for Nick."

Nick Walczak's brother Josh Walczak, 20, said that when he heard about the shooting and that his brother had been involved, he didn't know what to think.

"I saw him in the hospital and it was the worst day of my life," Josh Walczak said.

"He's my best friend. The kid is full of spirit. He's always in a good mood," he said of his brother. "Our relationship is going to get a million times stronger after this. I'll definitely be with him every step of the way from here on out."

Victim Demetrius Hewlin's mother Phyllis Ferguson also spoke and gave an update on her son.

"They took him this morning five minutes to eight to take his organs, so I'm having a hard time," Ferguson said as she choked back tears. "This was the last time I got to see him before they do what they do to him."

Ferguson said that one of the recipients of Hewlin's organs would be a child who was in the pediatric unit and only had a few days to live without a transplant. She was proud that her son would be able to save lives with his own, as he had wanted.

Ferguson also specified that her 16-year-old son was shot in the head.

She told ABC News on Wednesday that she had forgiven suspected shooter T.J. Lane.

"I would tell him I forgive him because, a lot of times, they don't know what they're doing. That's all I'd say," Ferguson said.

"I taught Demetrius not to live in the past, to live in today and forgiveness is divine. You have to forgive everything. God's grace is new each and every day," she said. "Until you've walked in another person's shoes, you don't know what made him come to this point."

Students and parents gathered in the center of Chardon today to march back to the school together. The school was open today a walk through and parents and students were encouraged to come together. On Friday, school will be back in session.

Also Read

View the original article here

Christchurch still 'safe haven' for quake survivor

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Jane Taylor was managing a women's clothing store in downtown Christchurch a year ago when the earthquake struck during lunch hour. She was dug from the rubble within minutes with horrific injuries — her vertebrae were crushed, her skull was fractured and her pelvis smashed.

Like Taylor, many survivors of the Feb. 22 earthquake continue to feel the emotional and physical pain from the tragedy that left 185 people dead in New Zealand's worst natural disaster in 80 years. Yet they are also rediscovering what it means to be part of a family and a community, and life is settling into familiar rhythms.

Taylor was in the hospital for three months, at first in an induced coma. But the 54-year-old says that in the months since, she has found strength from those around her, and has never considered leaving Christchurch.

"It's our place of love," she told The Associated Press. "We've been privileged to get know fellow survivors, and each of us is inspired every day by each other."

In many ways, the city remains a mess, a testament of the fury unleashed by the magnitude-6.1 temblor. The business district is a giant construction site. Thousands of homeowners have been told to leave their land after the government deemed entire neighborhoods too unstable to repopulate. And significant aftershocks continue to jolt people's confidence.

Yet, when Statistics New Zealand measured the population of Christchurch four months after the earthquake, it found it had declined by just 2.4 percent, down to 368,000.

Recalling that day, Taylor explained how she was in the store in the Cashel Street Mall when she felt a violent shaking and began running.

"The verandah upstairs basically landed on me," she said. "Big blocks of concrete. I was bent over like a staple, my bum on the ground and my head on my feet."

Two men dug her out from the rubble and moved her to a bench, but there was chaos all around and no way for an emergency vehicle to reach her.

"It was pretty shocking," she said. "There was debris falling, dust filling my mouth and nostrils, people screaming."

Taylor sat there for an hour, held upright at first by a friend and then by her husband, before a police car could get close and take her away.

After three months in the hospital and another three in physical therapy, she was able to walk unaided thanks to a titanium cage that doctors had inserted to support her spine. These days, she continues to suffer from weakness in her pelvis and chronic pain, but said she's proud of her recovery and that she's now fully mobile.

Despite the continuing aftershocks, she said she considers Christchurch her "safe haven" thanks to her family and friends. She said she believes she developed the emotional strength to handle her injuries after her 18-year-old son Alex was killed by a drunk driver four years ago.

"Your priorities change after something like that, and you realize that it's your family and being together that's so important," Taylor said, adding that she and her husband, Shaun, "developed a closeness and a strength as a couple after that."

For others, there remains the lingering question: Why did I survive when so many others died?

Emily Cooper, 23, was a reporter on assignment at a local park when the quake struck. The Canterbury Television (CTV) building where she worked collapsed in the quake, accounting for a majority of the deaths from the quake — 115. Among them were two people she considered close friends — Rhys Brookbanks, 25, whom Cooper had known since journalism school, and Sam Gibb, 27, her producer at CTV.

"The guilt wasn't something that lasted just a few days after the quake. It lasted months and has never really gone away," Cooper said. "It's changed from guilt to confusion. I will never really understand why. I can't help but think, why me?"

Cooper has since left CTV and now works for a radio station. However, she said she feels compelled to stay in Christchurch and keep reporting the stories of the people there who are struggling to rebuild their lives.

One pair whose image resonated with people around the world that day are Kent and Elizabeth Manning, teenagers whose photo was captured at the moment an officer told them there was no hope of finding more survivors in the collapsed CTV building, where their mother, Donna Manning, was killed.

The teen's uncle, Maurice Gardiner, said that a year later, they are healing.

"Both Elizabeth and Kent have good days and bad days, as we all do, but they are getting on with their lives," he said. "Kent is back at high school and Lizzy is at work."

Gardiner said he was "very, very proud" of how the teens had coped with all the issues they faced after their mother's death, from figuring out where they would live (Manning was a single mother) to arranging memorials.

On the anniversary of the quake Wednesday, Gardiner said, the teens plan to bury their mother's ashes at a local cemetery. That, he said, may help bring some closure.

"One of the things that has come out of all this is that people spend a lot more time with each other," Gardiner said. "Not only with our family, but throughout the city. As we put things back together, we are very much looking after each other, caring for each other."

View the original article here

Christchurch still 'safe haven' for quake survivor

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Jane Taylor was managing a women's clothing store in downtown Christchurch a year ago when the earthquake struck during lunch hour. She was dug from the rubble within minutes with horrific injuries — her vertebrae were crushed, her skull was fractured and her pelvis smashed.

Like Taylor, many survivors of the Feb. 22 earthquake continue to feel the emotional and physical pain from the tragedy that left 185 people dead in New Zealand's worst natural disaster in 80 years. Yet they are also rediscovering what it means to be part of a family and a community, and life is settling into familiar rhythms.

Taylor was in the hospital for three months, at first in an induced coma. But the 54-year-old says that in the months since, she has found strength from those around her, and has never considered leaving Christchurch.

"It's our place of love," she told The Associated Press. "We've been privileged to get know fellow survivors, and each of us is inspired every day by each other."

In many ways, the city remains a mess, a testament of the fury unleashed by the magnitude-6.1 temblor. The business district is a giant construction site. Thousands of homeowners have been told to leave their land after the government deemed entire neighborhoods too unstable to repopulate. And significant aftershocks continue to jolt people's confidence.

Yet, when Statistics New Zealand measured the population of Christchurch four months after the earthquake, it found it had declined by just 2.4 percent, down to 368,000.

Recalling that day, Taylor explained how she was in the store in the Cashel Street Mall when she felt a violent shaking and began running.

"The verandah upstairs basically landed on me," she said. "Big blocks of concrete. I was bent over like a staple, my bum on the ground and my head on my feet."

Two men dug her out from the rubble and moved her to a bench, but there was chaos all around and no way for an emergency vehicle to reach her.

"It was pretty shocking," she said. "There was debris falling, dust filling my mouth and nostrils, people screaming."

Taylor sat there for an hour, held upright at first by a friend and then by her husband, before a police car could get close and take her away.

After three months in the hospital and another three in physical therapy, she was able to walk unaided thanks to a titanium cage that doctors had inserted to support her spine. These days, she continues to suffer from weakness in her pelvis and chronic pain, but said she's proud of her recovery and that she's now fully mobile.

Despite the continuing aftershocks, she said she considers Christchurch her "safe haven" thanks to her family and friends. She said she believes she developed the emotional strength to handle her injuries after her 18-year-old son Alex was killed by a drunk driver four years ago.

"Your priorities change after something like that, and you realize that it's your family and being together that's so important," Taylor said, adding that she and her husband, Shaun, "developed a closeness and a strength as a couple after that."

For others, there remains the lingering question: Why did I survive when so many others died?

Emily Cooper, 23, was a reporter on assignment at a local park when the quake struck. The Canterbury Television (CTV) building where she worked collapsed in the quake, accounting for a majority of the deaths from the quake — 115. Among them were two people she considered close friends — Rhys Brookbanks, 25, whom Cooper had known since journalism school, and Sam Gibb, 27, her producer at CTV.

"The guilt wasn't something that lasted just a few days after the quake. It lasted months and has never really gone away," Cooper said. "It's changed from guilt to confusion. I will never really understand why. I can't help but think, why me?"

Cooper has since left CTV and now works for a radio station. However, she said she feels compelled to stay in Christchurch and keep reporting the stories of the people there who are struggling to rebuild their lives.

One pair whose image resonated with people around the world that day are Kent and Elizabeth Manning, teenagers whose photo was captured at the moment an officer told them there was no hope of finding more survivors in the collapsed CTV building, where their mother, Donna Manning, was killed.

The teen's uncle, Maurice Gardiner, said that a year later, they are healing.

"Both Elizabeth and Kent have good days and bad days, as we all do, but they are getting on with their lives," he said. "Kent is back at high school and Lizzy is at work."

Gardiner said he was "very, very proud" of how the teens had coped with all the issues they faced after their mother's death, from figuring out where they would live (Manning was a single mother) to arranging memorials.

On the anniversary of the quake Wednesday, Gardiner said, the teens plan to bury their mother's ashes at a local cemetery. That, he said, may help bring some closure.

"One of the things that has come out of all this is that people spend a lot more time with each other," Gardiner said. "Not only with our family, but throughout the city. As we put things back together, we are very much looking after each other, caring for each other."

View the original article here