After being shot in the neck, Minneapolis teen regaining her ability to speak
Doctors initially were worried Mykia Carpenter would never speak again after she was shot in the neck while leaving work in Minneapolis. (FOX 9)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Mykia Carpenter was critically injured in a mass shooting outside her Lyn-Lake neighborhood workplace more than a month ago. Her recovery was nothing short of a miracle.
"I even pray that when endorsements and things come for your voice to be amplified, that God will literally bless you in every way and every route that you take," said Carpenter.
After being shot in the neck, Minneapolis teen regaining her ability to speak
The 18 year old was shot in the neck more than five weeks ago now, an innocent victim struck by gunfire in a mass shooting right outside the Lyn-Lake neighborhood bar and restaurant she was working at. Initially, doctors didn’t know if she would ever speak again.
Inside a north Minneapolis church on Sunday, the love, support, and prayers for Mykia Carpenter were overwhelming.
"It’s all the community," she said. "It takes a village."
The 18 year old was shot in the neck more than five weeks ago now, an innocent victim struck by gunfire in a mass shooting right outside the Lyn-Lake neighborhood bar and restaurant she was working at.
Initially, doctors didn’t know if she would ever speak again.
"I woke up on a ventilator," said Carpenter. "Doctors were surprised because I was fighting them to take it out. I didn’t need it. Doctors were surprised that I put up a fight."
Carpenter hasn’t stopped fighting since, greeting supporters and well-wishers from her hospital bed in those early days. Now, she’s going to Vikings games, her voice soft but coming back like the fierce survivor she is. Her dreams of college studies and a nursing career were only temporarily derailed.
"I was going to move to Chicago to start classes down there," she said. "Live with my sister…but, I am still going to do it. It’s just a slow down right now."
As her voice gains strength, one topic she won’t avoid, gun violence and the devastating toll it is taking on her community.
"It’s our women that are being damaged by this," said Carpenter. "Their mothers are losing kids. Kids are dying. Like, it’s innocent people. I just feel like more people need to speak up and talk. Our community is too quiet."
An online fundraiser has been set up to aid Carpenter as her recovery continues.