PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An 11-year-old girl who was grazed by a bullet earlier this month in Southwest Philadelphia and has been struggling with the trauma of the incident got a Christmas surprise over the weekend.
"I never thought I would be on the news for a reason like this," said 11-year-old "J", who declined to share her full name.
She is still at home recovering from a gunshot wound to her left thigh.
"It was burning in my leg so that caused me to fall, so I started to cry," she said, recalling the shooting on the 2400 block of 66th Street. She and her little brother had run to the corner store when the shooting happened.
"I heard a pow, pow," said 7-year-old "Ju", "then she fell on the ground."
The young boy said he ran to get help for his sister, who — thanks to the assistance of another person — was able to limp home.
Unfortunately, it's a day they'll never forget — it still comes back to Ju's mind, he said.
But this weekend, they had a few moments to reprieve from the trauma.
On Friday, community groups including One Day At A Time, Philadelphia Anti-Violence, Anti-Drug Network, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, Mercy Hospital and others came together to surprise the family of six with toys, bikes, scooters, a gift card for food and more just in time for Christmas.
"They gave me a bike and I didn't really see what else is inside the boxes," said J.
Their grandmother said she's raising her five grandchildren on her own.
"I do appreciate anything that anyone has done for my grandchildren," she said.
She wanted to use the incident as an opportunity to speak out against the gun violence, since her granddaughter was among the 108 kids shot in Philadelphia as of Dec. 6.
"I was worried but after this happened, I'm very worried," she said.
The family has a basement full of gifts they'll open on Christmas Day, but grandma said all she wants is for the shootings to stop.
