Colorado Shooting Victim Survives Being Shot in Face Due to Brain Defect
Miracles do happen. A church pastor who counseled parents post-Columbine has offered a detailed update about the status and prognosis of one of the victims of last week’s Aurora, CO massacre at a midnight screening of ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’
The victim survived due to a brain defect that she didn’t even know she had.
Violinist Petra Anderson, 22, is a member of the pastor’s church and she attended the screening with two friends who were biking across the US. She was hit four times: three shots in the arm and one in her brain, the last of of which entered Petra’s face through her nose and traveled up through her brain to the back of her skull.
While the prognosis was not good at first, since so much of her brain function could be affected by surgery, two teams were assembled to work on Anderson. Luckily, the things went markedly better than expected. She recovered with little damage to her brain and the bullet was extracted cleanly. However, there was a 48-hour wait-and-see, touch-and-go period.
Miraculously, a small and previously undetected brain defect was discovered, described as a “small hole in an oak board winding from front to rear” and the bullet followed that channel, which is why she was so lucky and so little damage was done.
Despite the good news, Petra still faces surgery and possible facial reconstruction. Also, her mother, Kim, is in the final stages of terminal cancer.
That’s where you might be able to come in. To donate and help with Petra’s and Kim’s medical costs, go here.