A 15-year-old girl who was shot in the head by a stray bullet on her way home from school has a lot to be thankful for – her doctor said she is expected to make a full recovery.
In fact, music-loving Vada Vasquez could be out of the hospital and in rehabilitation by Christmas, and blasting her own stereo again.
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“It’s good news to me,” her elated mother, Gemma, told reporters at Lincoln Hospital. “I couldn’t believe it, that she’d be the way she is today. Thanksgiving will be good and Christmas, everything.”
Vada’s doctor, Narayan Sundaresan, Lincoln’s chief of neurosurgery, performed the three-hour surgery during which the bullet that was meant for someone else was removed from Vada’s skull.
Sundaresa said some bone fragments and brain tissue were removed during the tricky craniotomy.
The surgeon said the bullet damaged Vada’s left temporal lobe, the area of the brain that is responsible for speech.
But Sundaresan said Vada has youth on her side, and that rehabilitation should allow Vada to reach her full potential, regain her speech and sing along with her favorite songs.
“She can make a full recovery,” Sundaresan said.
Gemma’s joy was especially poignant for Sundaresan. When the doctor was a 9-year-boy in Malaysia, his own mother was shot in the head by a soldier during a training exercise.
Sundaresa saw doctors remove the bullet during a successful surgery, which inspired him to become a surgeon.
Gemma said her daughter has been communicating with her and other visitors, even though she is frustrated that she can’t always get the words out.
“She said ‘Mom,’ she said ‘I love you,’” Gemma recalled. “She said a couple of things.”
Gemma said the family will have a quiet Thanksgiving celebration in the hospital, although Vada is not yet ready to eat any turkey and gravy.
“She smiles and tries to talk and eat for herself,” Gemma said.
Despite the good news, Gemma said she can see sadness in her daughter’s eyes.
“I can see she’s in pain,” Gemma said.
Vada is also frustrated over losing her long hair. Doctors had to cut her locks before the operation.
“She had beautiful long hair,” Gemma said. “She touches it and asks me and says ‘why.’”
Vada was shot by a bullet intended for Tyrone Creighton, 19, who was also shot in retaliation for a jailhouse dispute, authorities said.
Five reputed gang members were arrested, including a 16-year-old baby-faced gunman, police said.
“I do feel really bad about all this,” Gemma said of the violence.
“You hurt a lot of innocent people like my daughter,” she said of the gunman. “She has so much going for her. She’s in pain hurt and confused. It would be very hard to forgive him at this moment.”