Sha-Marie Huff

On October 21, 2022, my son was 15 years old when he was shot in the head with a .38 cal. snub-nose revolver at the home of his girlfriend. He was rushed to the hospital and flown to the OU Trauma Center in OKC, Ok. He spent a total of one month exactly between the trauma center ICU, OU Childrens Hospital, and Bethany Children’s Center, where he did inpatient rehab and then back to OU Children’s, where they performed a craniotomy, a surgery to remove the bullet and , completely replace the dura, or the protective layer of the brain and repair the cranial fracture that encircled his head, which required 5 titanium plates. The bullet had been lodged in the upper calvarium, or the main vein the runs through the center of the head and occluding the blood flow in his brain. He was released 3 days after surgery.
Over the past year and a half, he has been in and out of juvenile detention facilities, as they determined that he shot himself, something that he, still to this day, denies. He is currently serving time in a juvenile prison because of an incident that involved the family members of the ex-girlfriend. My son is paying the price for defending himself. The resiliency and determination that my son has shown through all of this is extremely admirable, very mature on his part, and shows his strength as an individual. He is truly a walking, talking miracle, and our family is so very grateful that he is still with us today, even if it is being where he is today.
The legal issues that followed this incident and everything leading up to today is something that I do not want to see happen to another child and family. Through the journey that my family, my son, has been on since this happened, has been a very trying one, indeed. I believe that family involvement is crucial to the recovery process, as long as it is beneficial to the patient. Removal of the supports that were so important, so soon after this incident could have proven extremely detrimental to my son. Refusal by the justice system to allow involvement of our family, refusal to transport my son to see his neurosurgeon, the lack of medical care provided in the facility that he was placed in, the dangerous environment that he was placed in so soon after surgery, and so many other issues surrounding the situation, is very concerning to me, as a mother. The lack of knowledge and care shown by the powers that be has lit a fire under this momma, to try to bring about change in the way that things are handled concerning patients who are suffering the consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury. This is the reason behind my advocacy.