Miles away from home, in Tampa, Fla., a Cleveland woman who was shot five times in 2015 received an unexpected gift from a double Purple Heart recipient
Shannon Richmond, of Cleveland, is undergoing intense physical therapy in Tampa at the Stay in Step Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Center, but on Tuesday she went there not for therapy, but for a generous donation. The family of Robert Smith, a double amputee and double Purple Heart recipient who died in January, donated something that would change her everyday life.
He had a special car specifically made for his needs, and his family surprised her with his car.
"It's such a blessing," Richmond said who has been fighting a battle to walk again ever since she was shot several times from behind at a Cleveland gas station.
Back in the fall of 2017, Richmond was fighting another battle at the Ohio Attorney's General Office for healthcare coverage from the state's Crime Victim Compensation Fund so she could learn to walk after she shot during a drive-by shooting at a Cleveland gas station on July 23, 2015.
"I got inside the EMS ambulance, and I said please don't let me die. I have two children," Richmond said on that fateful day.
Richmond has a long road ahead in recovery but the day-to-day tasks have been made a little easier with the help from one veteran to another.
