HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - An innocent 11-year-old girl was released from the hospital after taking a devastating gunshot wound to the head while sitting in the car as she was waiting for food at McDonald’s.
The moment the family has been waiting for arrived as the 11-year-old girl now gets to spend Fourth of July at home with her family after being discharged from Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood on Saturday morning.
“It feels like I have another chance. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for everything,” said the 11-year-old girl.
The shooting left the 11-year-old girl hospitalized after getting caught in the crossfire in a Hallandale Beach McDonald’s parking lot along the 800 block of West Hallandale Beach Boulevard on June 27.
The 11-year-old, whose name is being withheld by her family, spoke to reporters on Friday along with her parents at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, showing how far she’s come in just a short amount of time.
“Thank you for everything. Thank you for the police. Thank you for the firefighters. Thank you for the doctors,” said the 11-year-old girl.
According to police, a fight broke out between two men in the McDonald’s parking lot, which led to shots being fired.
McDonald’s employee, 18-year-old Ralph N-Kosi Blue III, arrived to work on Monday, spotted a man charging at him, and opened fire in the parking lot.
The bullets struck the 11-year-old in the head, who was sitting in the back passenger seat of her parents’ SUV with her two younger siblings in the Hallandale McDonald’s parking lot while her mom was inside getting food.
One bullet hit the 11-year-old girl’s father, Oscar, in the hip, who was sitting in the front seat of the car.
“You guys see me strong here, but it is very difficult. In the moment everything happened, I thought it was a movie,” said the mother of the 11-year-old girl.
The 11-year-old girl was then rushed into surgery at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.
“They did have to perform a washout as there were multiple fragments in the region. As you can see, she’s very lucky in the sense that there were very vital areas that were missed,” said Dr. Wendy Caracamo at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.
Some bullet fragments are still in the 11-year-old girl’s head, and according to staff at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, trying to remove them could cause further trauma.
The 11-year-old girl who loves to paint and wants to be a police officer has a long road to recovery ahead of her,
As she heads home, she’ll have to go through more rehab and therapy, but the family is grateful.
“Despite the circumstances, we give thanks to God because we’re alive. We’ll be celebrating my daughter’s birthday with her by our side,” said Oscar.
“I’m very happy because God did a miracle. If you didn’t believe in God, just look at the miracle he did,” said the mother of the 11-year-old girl.
Police are still searching for the second man shown in surveillance video who was involved in the shooting.
Her family has since set up a GoFundMe page asking for help covering her medical expenses. If you would like to donate to assist the family, click here.
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