Remember Janay Moguel? She's the 7 year old who was wounded on the evening of February 1st of this year when gunmen started firing wildly at the corner of Faber's Road and Central American Boulevard.
The Standard I student was walking from the corner store with her grand-father when gunshots were fired. The shooting left two adult males with minor injuries, one female child with severe injuries and one man dead. That female child is Janay Moguel and her story is one of the saddest we've told. Her prognosis was very grim from the outset as the billet entered through her shoulder and damaged her spine. Doctors feared she might not walk again.
In late February she went to the USA for specialized treatment and we haven't heard much from the family as they've been busy trying to get her well. Tonight they contacted us for an update and the bad news is that there is simply no miracle to report...but the good news is that for this child and her family, there is hope and prayer.
Her mother Rose spoke to us from Alabama:....
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
"This is where we left Janay Moguel in February at the Universal Hospital. After that she was flown to the children's hospital in Birmingham Alabama."
And this is her taken in recent video at therapy sessions in Alabama learning how to crawl, because, she can't walk.
Her mother Rose explained by phone from Alabama: Rose Moguel, Mother of Janay Moguel, via telephone from Alabama
"Her spinal chord injury has been classified as complete. She is presently paralyzed from the nipples down. They also said that the bullet that entered has severely affected the nerve in the brachial plexus and that is what is causing the little to no function in the left arm."
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
"Now the hope is that she can regain use of that arm through a muscle transfer surgery."
Rose Moguel, Mother of Janay Moguel, via telephone from Alabama
"If they do it – it is going to help her to at least regain some kind of function to have her lift, using the two arms so that she can do pressure releases from a sitting position, because right now she doesn't have function of that arm. She can only lift the left arm. She doesn't have function of the fingers. She cannot pick up anything or hold anything with the fingers."
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
In therapy she learns how to hold her body upright so she doesn't slide out of a wheelchair – hard, hard lessons a 7-year-old should never have to learn:
Rose Moguel, Mother, via telephone from Alabama
"We're doing therapy. We have been doing therapy five times a week. We still continue to do therapy and she's doing very good in therapy. She can roll from one side to the other. She can go into a sitting position from a lying position so she's really responding. And therapists are really working very hard with her."
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
"They've been working hard to prepare for a future that won't be anything this 7-year-old or her family could ever have expected."
Rose Moguel, Mother, via telephone from Alabama
"I don't really tell her that she will not walk again although the doctors had said that they don't expect her to. She still prays very, very much. Every night she prays hard. We pray together, she and I. It's rough it's really, really rough. At times, she cries. She cries a lot in the night sometimes, you know. We miss our family and things like that so it's really rough. But I try to keep her up in spirits because Janay is a very smart child. She asks me you know, ‘Mommy when am I going to walk again? Mommy, put me on the floor so I can walk. Help me to the wheelchair. I am getting tired of this. She is getting frustrated, you know. It's very hard to deal with you know to see your child, she was walking perfectly, in good health, and now she has to be confined to a wheel chair. It is very, very hard. They don't know what they have done to my family. Its very, very hard and without the family support physically over here, its really, really rough.
"It's very hard to deal with. Sometimes I cry. I go into another area so she doesn't see me crying and things like that. But it's very rough. (Sighs) It's a lot. Like you know, I have an 8-month-old daughter. I'm a teacher. I'm out of school. But you know, I really have to do this for my daughter, you know, just try to deal with it emotionally and mentally. I just have to be here for Janay and right now, I am concentrating on her first.
Jules Vasquez,
_But as bad as it has been, Janay has managed to keep her spirits up – here she is, singing King Jesus for her father via video-chat.
(Janay singing.)
Jules Vasquez,
And Janay was also feeling good today – she wanted to say hi to her school friends and her teacher:
Janay Moguel, Recovering in the USA, via telephone,
"I want to say hi to my teacher and my principal and my friends from school.
Jules Vasquez,
"In the end her mother had only one request. "
Rose Moguel, Mother, via telephone from Alabama
"Most of all, I want them to continue praying for Janay though.
Jules Vasquez,
"She didn't even have to ask."
If you'd like to send Rose Moguel or Janay an e-mail offering your support or prayers, you can send that to: moguelrose@yahoo.com. You can find that address on our website.
And if you'd like to contribute to offsetting their medical costs, you can make contributions to account number 1-0-0-0-5-0-1 at Scotiabank.
They do need the support because Janay and her mom will be in Alabama until at least mid-year when doctors are considering a muscle replacement surgery to give Janay some dexterity in her left hand which the bullet entered. They are also waiting for a custom-fitted wheelchair for Janay.
