8-Year-Old Calif. Boy Is Paralyzed from Neck Down After Being Struck by Stray Bullet in Car

Asa.Photo:GoFundMe

GoFundMe

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,” aGoFundMe pageset 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.

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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“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.

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

source: people.com