On April 21, 2025, Neamiah Johnson was just 18 years old\u2014one of four siblings, the varsity basketball captain at Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School, and newly enlisted in the Marines. With prom and graduation just a month away, his future was wide open.<\/p>\n
But at 9 p.m. that evening, his life changed in an instant.<\/p>\n
While helping clean out his mother\u2019s car, Johnson was shot four times in a drive-by shooting. His family thinks it was a case of mistaken identity, but no arrests have been made.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith that first bullet, I screamed and just fell to the ground,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cMy mom ran outside, and I just told her, \u2018I can\u2019t feel my legs.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson never lost consciousness. As he waited for the ambulance, he remembers his neighbors gathering around him, praying.<\/p>\n
He was transported to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where a multidisciplinary team was ready to act.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was unable to move his legs, which immediately told us he likely suffered a spinal cord injury,\u201d said Julie Valenzuela, MD, a trauma surgeon at Ryder Trauma. \u201cThese can be long-term, devastating injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson was rushed into emergency surgery. Doctors identified a tear in his liver, injuries to his right lung, and blood in his chest. Following surgery, he was admitted to Jackson Memorial\u2019s intensive care unit (ICU), where he was closely monitored.<\/p>\n
Dr. Valenzuela also serves as the medical director of Jackson\u2019s Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program, which supports patients affected by community violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal is to intervene at a very vulnerable point in their recovery,\u201d she said. \u201cThat way, we provide a sense of safety, support, and connect them with the services they will need moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Valenzuela works closely with Kawanakee Thompkins, the program\u2019s lead social worker, to ensure patients, like Johnson, and their families receive comprehensive support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis incident occurred at their home, so their sense of safety was completely shaken,\u201d Thompkins said. \u201cOur program was able to provide safe housing for Neamiah, his mother, and his three siblings in a hotel until he was discharged from the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
After his time in the ICU, Johnson was transferred to Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth\/Jackson Memorial, where he began intensive rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI first met Neamiah through his chart\u2014a young patient coming in with a gunshot wound who was paralyzed,\u201d said Logan Waller, one of Johnson\u2019s physical therapists at Lynn Rehabilitation Center. \u201cWhen I walked into the room, I expected someone very upset and distraught. But that\u2019s not what I found.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, Waller was met with a patient determined to move forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was smiling, optimistic, already trying to sit up and move,\u201d Waller said.<\/p>\n
The rehabilitation team set a meaningful goal: to get Johnson home in time for his high school graduation. When that goal was met, Waller attended the ceremony and watched Johnson receive his diploma.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Waller believes Johnson\u2019s potential remains limitless.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of the future, the chair changes nothing,\u201d he said. \u201cHe still wants to pursue basketball in some form, and whatever path he chooses, he\u2019s going to excel.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you ask the now 19-year-old where he sees himself in the future, his answer comes without hesitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see myself on a billboard, on a talk show, a TED Talk,\u201d Johnson said with a smile. \u201cEvery situation, no matter if it\u2019s good or bad, something good will come out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now in college studying psychology, Johnson says he\u2019s slowly reclaiming the life he once thought was out of reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything I thought I wasn\u2019t going to have, I\u2019m just getting it back\u2014just slowly falling into place,\u201d he said. \u201cDriving again, going everywhere I would like to go. A big part of that is my mom\u2014she helps me with everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also credits his care team at Jackson for shaping not only his recovery, but his attitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an amazing hospital\u2014they really played a part in how my mindset is,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThey saved my life. I\u2019m just blessed for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Dr. Valenzuela and the team who cared for him, Johnson\u2019s journey has left a lasting impression.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were all so impressed by his vitality and resilience,\u201d she said. \u201cI have yet to see someone his age with such maturity in his approach and understanding of his injury. He truly reminds us why we do what we do\u2014and helps us be better, not just as caregivers, but as people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On April 21, 2025, Neamiah Johnson was just 18 years old\u2014one of four siblings, the varsity basketball captain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[59927,103721,103711,103702,103706,103723,103700,103713,103699,103719,103705,103707,103709,103703,123,103712,103698,125,103722,103720,124,62477,103718,103710,103714,103701,103716,103697,62476,103708,103704,103715,103717],"class_list":["post-231819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-christine-e-lynn-rehabilitation-center","tag-gun-violence-survivor-story","tag-gunshot-wound-recovery","tag-hialeah-miami-lakes-senior-high","tag-hospital-based-violence-intervention-program","tag-jackson-health-patient-recovery","tag-jackson-health-system-care","tag-jackson-icu-patient-care","tag-jackson-memorial-hospital-trauma","tag-jackson-memorial-rehabilitation","tag-julie-valenzuela-trauma-surgeon","tag-kawanakee-thompkins-social-worker","tag-logan-waller-physical-therapist","tag-marine-recruit-injured","tag-miami","tag-miami-community-violence-response","tag-miami-drive-by-shooting","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-healthcare-heroes","tag-miami-inspirational-patient-story","tag-miami-news","tag-miami-project-to-cure-paralysis","tag-miami-public-health-system","tag-miami-rehabilitation-success-story","tag-miami-teen-graduation-recovery","tag-miami-teen-gun-violence","tag-miami-dade-hospital-support-programs","tag-neamiah-johnson-shooting","tag-ryder-trauma-center","tag-safe-housing-for-victims","tag-spinal-cord-injury-recovery","tag-trauma-surgery-miami","tag-youth-resilience-after-violence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}