Boy Is Paralyzed After Being Struck by Stray Bullet

An 8-year-old boy has been left paralyzed after being struck by a stray bullet during a shooting on a freeway in California, and authorities are still searching for the shooter.

On July 14, the boy — identified only as “Asa” by loved ones — was shot while riding in his family’s car after people in two vehicles began firing at each other in the eastbound lanes of I-580 near Harrison Street in Oakland, according to a press release from the California Highway Patrol.

The cars fled the scene and investigators have not identified any suspects.

The CHP said the boy was taken to a local hospital in grave condition. Asa survived, but “his body is forever changed,” a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for medical expenses says.

“At this point, he is experiencing complete paralysis below the neck,” the fundraiser reads. “We are profoundly relieved that our boy is alive and very much himself, and we are also starting to understand the vast implications of his new reality.”

According to his family, bullet and bone fragments penetrated the spinal column of his neck, with some lodging in. From this point on, they say Asa will need a mechanical respirator to breathe, tube feeds for nutrition and 24-hour, round-the-clock nursing care.

“Two weeks later, Asa is not only alive, but he’s making us laugh, reading his favorite books and requesting songs by Imagine Dragons,” the page states. “His intellect, his spirit, and his love of life are very much intact.

The family expects to pay more than $250,000 in medical expenses to bring Asa home in the next few months, and at least $1 million in total in the coming year. 

“Our friends have encouraged us to create a way for people to contribute to the daunting costs we are incurring as we transition into this new reality with our Asa,” the family wrote on the fundraising site.

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Since the campaign has already surpassed $1 million in donations, Asa’s loved ones say they will be donating the extra contributions to “local and national organizations working to prevent gun violence or support families whose lives have been impacted by it."

“Once we’ve wrapped our minds around our new lives with Asa, we'll be ready to join you all in the fight to stop this from happening to any other child, ever again,” the family wrote in an Aug. 9 update.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the shooting.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the California Highway Patrol’s tip line at (707)917-4491.

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