Philadelphia teen gun violence victim is learning to walk again while inspiring others
When gun violence touched a Philadelphia family, not only were they on a mission to help their son walk again, but now they're helping other families with children dealing with spinal cord injuries.
For 17-year-old Shafir, today's occupational therapy at Shriners Children's Philadelphia involves making his favorite dessert, sweet potato pie. Shafir is paralyzed from the waist down, an innocent bystander caught in the path of bullets not meant for him.
"I was in a park waiting for a friend to play basketball with and somebody had ski masks on," Shafir said. "He came on a bike. He just pulled a gun from out of his pocket. I started running. He shot about four times. He hit me in the back over here, all the way to my side."
Shafir has made great strides in his year-and-a-half physical and occupational therapy journey. He's also made great strides in his indefatigable drive to walk again.
"We all got goals. Some of us set small goals. I always set the biggest goal I can get. I said I was going to walk in six months and then in six months, I was able to get in braces and walk. In the next year — in fact the next half-year — I expect to be out of the braces and walk. Simple as that."
Shafir proudly sports his new motto in life on a T-shirt, "inexhaustible," for a teenager whose life was inexplicably changed by gun violence. He says he gets his motivation from his mom, Jasmine Tate-Supplee.
"It as a hard journey for us," Tate-Supplee said.
The family's harrowing journey spawned Shafir's mom to start "Shafir's Journey," helping other children with spinal cord injuries.
"We just a lot of children that did not have the resources that Shafir had," Tate-Supplee said. "We can afford to give supplies when he runs out of them. There are a lot of children that they can't afford those things. We give the DoorDash credits, we give the Amazon gift cards. We also give other supplies."
Each month, Tate-Supplee and her husband fund the delivery of bags full of necessary supplies to as many as 12 families.
"It makes us feel better. So we can't change the world, we cannot change the city. We can't," Tate-Supplee said. "We can't get rid of the violence. But we can help the families. We can help the people who are our community."