On Wednesday, the 16-year-old’s attorney, Lee Merritt, let the world know just how well the resilient teen is doing.
“He’s home and looks great,” the civil rights lawyer wrote onInstagramnext to a picture of him and Ralph sitting on the deck of the teen’s home.
“Ralph is a WALKING MIRACLE with a head of steel,” Merritt said of the honor student and talented musician who dreams of studying chemical engineering at Texas A&M.
Ralph’s ordeal began just before 10 p.m. on April 13, when he mistakenly went to N.E. 115th St. instead of N.E. 115th Terrace to pick up his little brothers from a friend’s house.
Lee Merritt and Ralph Yarl.Lee Merritt/Instagram
Lester shot the boy a second time while he lay on the ground in a pool of blood and smashed glass, say authorities.
Though he had been shot in the head and arm, Ralph somehow mustered the strength to go door to door in the neighborhood, screaming that he had been shot, his aunt, Faith Spoonmore wrote In aGoFundMe postshe set up for her nephew.
Ralph was rushed to a local hospital where he was initially listed in critical condition.
Now he is healing, says Merritt.
Ralph Yarl.Go Fund Me
“Ralph suffered a traumatic brain injury that he is still recovering from,” he wrote on Instagram. “Had the bullet hit his head a fraction of an inch in any other direction he would probably be dead right now.”
Merritt added, “He is expected to make a FULL recovery, but it will take time. And we ask that you pray for Ralph and his family daily.”
One of the many people in Ralph’s corner, Merritt noted, isPresident Joe Biden.
On Monday night, he wrote, “President Joe Biden called Ralph and spoke to him for nearly an hour. It was actually a beautiful, thoughtful, meaningful, compassionate conversation.
“President Biden, which I have always said was his greatest gift, offered such warm encouragement to Ralph. He asked Ralph great questions about his musical background and shared stories about his own family playing similar instruments.
“He asked Ralph about his mother and family and shared heartwarming stories about his own mother and family. They talked about academics, the world, and much more.”
Ralph’s family expected the call to last for two to three minutes, he wrote.
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“But they loved talking to each other so much that it carried on for about an hour. It was a surprising and special moment,” Merritt wrote.
During the call, President Biden invited Ralph to the White House, Merritt said.
Later on, Ralph spoke to Vice PresidentKamala Harris, “who offered her own warm encouragement and prayers for his recovery,” Merritt wrote.
RELATED VIDEO: 84-Year-Old Charged in Shooting of Ralph Yarl, as Teen Who Went to Wrong House Is Released from Hospital
‘Long Road Ahead’
Despite his good prognosis, Ralph still “has a long road ahead,” Spoonmore, said in an update that Merritt shared on Instagram.
Released Monday from the hospital, Ralph is currently at home with the family, she said in her update.
“He can ambulate and communicate,” she wrote. “A true miracle considering what he survived.
“Thank you so much for loving Ralph,” she wrote.
On Tuesday, Merritt appeared with Ralph’s mother, Cleo Nagbe, onCBS Morningsto share an update withGayle Kingabout her son’s recovery.
He is still processing the trauma he just endured.
Sometimes, she said, he just sits and stares and “the buckets of tears just roll down his eyes,” she said.
The family is working with a trauma expert to get him through this difficult ordeal, Merritt said.
He is lucky to be alive, his mother noted onCBS Mornings.
“Ralph was shot on the top of his left eye, I would say in the left frontal lobe,” she explained. “And then he was shot again in the upper right arm.”
The bullet was lodged above his eye for “up to 12 hours before it was taken out,” Nagbe said. “So that injury is extensive. And the residual effects of that injury is gonna stay with him for quite awhile.”
Based on Yarl’s pediatrician’s response, the lack of damage to his brain is nothing short of a miracle, she said.
“I talked to his pediatrician, and she said, ‘So the CT said that there is just minimal fragments of the bullet in his brain,’ and I said, ‘Yes.’ And she’s like, ‘How?’ and I said, ‘I don’t know how.’ And she’s like, ‘Bless God.’ "
Shooter Faces Charges
On Monday, Lester, 84, was charged with assault in the first degree and armed criminal action for shooting Yarl,KMBC Newsreported.
Andrew Lester.Kansas City police department
On Tuesday, Lester turned himself in and was released on a bond that afternoon, CBS News reports.
If convicted, Lester could possibly spend life in prison,CNNreported. Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said that felony assault in the first degree carries 10 to 30 years at a minimum, with a life sentence as the maximum.
source: people.com
