More than 100,000 people. That is how many Americans are victims of gun violence each year. These gun violence victims are shot in murders, assaults, suicides, suicide attempts, accidents, or by police intervention according to The Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence.
While this figure includes Americans of all ages, each city has witnessed the horror of gun violence. Day-after-day, Indianapolis residents continue to lose loved ones to gun violence, but what about those victims that are spared and given a second chance at life?
DeAndra Yates experienced this situation when her now 14-year-old son, DeAndre Knox, was shot in the head on February 1, 2014. Knox was attending the birthday party of a 15-year-old when six shots were fired outside of the home.
Knox had previously convinced his mother to attend the party despite the fact she felt uneasy about letting him go. Speaking with the adult in supervision and seeing the new subdivision where the party would take place, eased Yates’ worries.
“About 11 p.m. I texted one of DeAndre’s friends to see how the party was going. She text me back at 11:14 p.m. and said ‘the party is good and DeAndre is OK,’” said Yates. “About 15 minutes later I felt an explosion in my stomach and instantly began to second guess letting him go. At 11:47 p.m., I received a phone call saying ‘Get to Riley Hospital, Dre has been shot!’”
The gun wound to the head caused Knox nine brain strokes and a 34-day stay at Riley Children’s Hospital.
“As days went by, doctors continued to tell me, ‘he won’t make it, if you have any family from out of town you should call them.’ They told me if Dre were to live, he would be nothing but a vegetable,” Yates said.
Today Knox uses a wheelchair, does not speak but has full sensation over his body and can answer questions with head movements. He attends rehab frequently where he is learning to stand again.
At this time an arrest has not been made, however, Yates and her family are raising funds for a reward hoping someone will turn in the assailent. Yates said funds in excess would be used to purchase a wheelchair van and pay for medical care insurance will not cover. At Recorder press time, over $2,000 has been raised over the past 17 months.
Despite the injury, doctors say Knox is a survivor of a Traumatic Brain Injury.
Yates’ story isn’t an unfamiliar one, other families in the Indianapolis area have also experienced a-near-death situation including the Middleton family who reside on the city’s old Northside.
Kyle Middleton, 25, was walking up to his brother’s home with a group of friends around midnight on April 19 when he was shot five times, bullets in the arm and legs. This incident left Kyle in and out of Eskenazi Hospital for three weeks at a time.
Karol, Kyle’s mother said her son noticed a car driving slowly as it approached the group when the window gradually crept down and a semi-automatic; AK-47 gun was fired from the vehicle on the city’s Eastside at 43rd Street and Crittenden Avenue.
“It was 12:01 a.m. when the incident happened and it was 1:24 a.m. when I received the call,” said Keith, Kyle’s father, who awoke to the disturbing call. “The call came from one of Kyle’s friends and they asked if I’d heard the news. They said he had been shot and was taken to Eskenazi.”
Kyle said although he was walking up to the home with several people, he was the only one shot at and injured.
“When I was walking up to my brother’s door, it was locked,” said Kyle. “By then I’m pretty sure the gun had fired, but I couldn’t get inside so as I ran to the neighbors’ house, they let me in.”
The family was told later by sources that their son resembled someone the shooters were targeting but Kyle was not the initial target. About a week later, a 17-year-old was shot in the same area.
Currently no one involved in the incident has been identified. When asked if the family believes if the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department does an efficient job of helping identify shooters, the Middleton family had varying opinions. Kyle and Karol believe assistance and concern could be greater but Keith thinks differently.
“I think the police do the best they can but to me police have such a negative relationship with people, especially the young people. They aren’t going to talk to them. The police weren’t there, they didn’t see it happen and for them to come in and figure it all out is difficult,” said Keith.
The couple has three other children and said they have never experienced anything like this. Today Kyle uses a wheelchair for transportation, has a cast on his left leg and a device attached to his arm to help regrow his right arm bone. Although afflicted with a major injury, Kyle and his parents continue to stay in good spirits and continue to find something to laugh about each day.
“We are extremely blessed,” said Keith. “It was a very different experience and it shows you could lose your life at any time.”
For more information on DeAndre Knox, visit Facebook.com or Gofundme.com and search “Pray for Dre.” View an exclusive video from DeAndra Yates as she shares her tips for parents experiencing similar situations at IndianapolisRecorder.com.
