To many, life in a wheelchair is not a life at all, but one man has learned to make the best out of it. He is 32 year old Shaphan Domingo. A 2007 shooting incident left him crippled. His legs had to be amputated. But he has been carrying on mostly on his own, never making his situation get the better of him. Today, Phillip Willoughby and the "One struggle" family held a special ceremony for Domingo to give him a number of much needed supplies. But that was not all. Courtney Weatherburne has the story.
Courtney Weatherburne reporting
32 year old Shaphan Domingo has come a long way.
He was shot 4 times in January 2007 on Amara Avenue. That incident changed his life forever - it left him paralyzed. And throughout the years he has developed a number of other life-threatening complications including kidney stones and chronic urinary tract infection. But like he said in a 2007 interview, 8 months after he was shot, despite the daily struggles, nothing can bring him down.
Shaphan Domingo
"I just have hope and faith right now. I just have a lot of hope."
And today, 11 years later, Domingo has that same positive attitude that continues to inspire others.
Participant
"I felt like I was to the point, right now, the last few days I have been depressed mode. This is really helping me, this is really helping me. Amen to you, respect Breds!"
Shaphan Domingo, Survivor
"I could say I don't know what is depression, I don't go through that, I have never felt that, I no reach there you feel me."
To keep Domingo optimistic and hopeful, the grieving families group called "One Struggle" along with the Ministry of Health gave Domingo a 2 month supply of much needed medical supplies.
Shaphan Domingo, Survivor
"The urine bag like what Mr. Phil say, the leg bag, different kinds, pampers, you have colostomy bags for me, I am the only one that uses colostomy bags, you have gloves, wipes, different stuff that you don't have to go to hospital for, you can do your own thing home and it will help a lot, you don't have to purchase I mean."
But the supplies hand-over was only one part of today's ceremony, the bigger news is that an organization out of Richmond Virginia, Global Surgical Expedition will pay for 3 very involved and expensive surgeries that Domingo needs to stay alive. In total the surgeries will cost over $20,000 US dollars.
Marielli Black, Mission Coordinator, Global Surgical Expedition
"We have seen Shaphan a number of times we have been here. We have always tried to help him but until this year and it is made a great progress and we are able to take him to the US."
His surgery will be free of cost because that was donated by the hospital in Richmond, along with other doctors but we have other expenses which are his tickets, visa and the places he will stay."
And Domingo and the One Struggle group hope the public can help cover these travel expenses.
Phillip Willoughby, Founder
"What we need from the public is support in order to purchase Shaphon's plane ticket so he and Ms. Black can reach Richmond Virginia to make the surgery happen hence for the reason for Shaphan Go Fund to be activated to get that support that he needs."
"If anyone can find it in within themselves to make a donation to the Shaphan Go Fund so he can go and do this much needed urgent surgery."
"It won't restore him to a fully active young man but it will certainly give him the courage and strength to lead a normal life."
That's all Domingo wants. He expressed his gratitude and he also shared some hard won wisdom.
Shaphan Domingo, Survivor
"Before you decide to just pick up a gun and shoot somebody think about the repercussions, I mean the same thing might happen to you and your family and you end up in the same situation. And just to hear the cost of the surgery between $20 to $30,000 US I could have never been able to come up with that. So if it wasn't for these people here I don't know what would have happen."
If you would like to help Shaphan get his plane tickets you can call the mission coordinator at 615-8514 or donate to the Shaphan Go Fund Holy Redeemer Credit Union account number 69519. Shaphan needs about $5,500 to cover tickets and the visa application. Very important: Shaphan has to be in the US before August 19th which is when the surgeries are scheduled to begin. So he needs to secure those funds before that time.
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