MIAMI – For the first time, we are hearing about the remarkable recovery of both a 38-year-old woman who was shot while she was pregnant and her baby who had to be delivered prematurely by C-section.
In an exclusive interview with CBS News Miami’s Peter D’Oench, the mother, Shanell Forbes, said “We didn’t deserve this. Nobody deserves this actually. They could have taken two lives, absolutely.”
Forbes spent 22 days recovering at Jackson Memorial Hospital. She lost a kidney. Her baby Zoey was delivered by emergency C-section the same day Forbes was shot on June 1st and Zoey is still in the intensive care unit at the Holtz Children’s Hospital.
Forbes said when her baby was born, she was just 2 pounds and 5 ounces and now weighs around 4 pounds.
“She is a miracle baby,” said Forbes. “She absolutely is a miracle baby. My hopes and prayers are that she will be able to do everything like every other baby does and walk and she’ll one day be able to tell this story.”
“Did you ever worry that she might not make it, that you might not make it?” asked D’Oench.
Forbes said, “At the time, yes, absolutely and at the time my concern was just her. Now she is doing great.”
Forbes said, it was 12:01 a.m. on June 1st when she was sleeping while inside car at a 7-Eleven store at N.W. 17th Ave. and 95th St. She said Zoey’s father was inside the store when someone fired shots at the car and its passenger-side windows were smashed.
“I was sleeping and I woke up to gunshots first to my leg and I turned around I felt a gunshot to my back,” she said. “I was in shock. I was in disbelief. I was distraught. I noticed I was bleeding and I tried to get out but I could not because my whole leg was numb. I tried to open the passenger door but I didn’t have the strength to pick my leg up and get out the passenger side. I have no idea why they fired at the car.”
Forbes said, “I am still recovering. I am on a long road to recovery. I am going to therapy for my gunshot wounds. I have something called drop foot. I have no sensation in my foot.”
Forbes, who was a teacher at a daycare facility and also has another daughter who is 15 years old, is struggling financially and is trying to raise money through a fund-raising website.
She said, “I am not working because of my condition, my drop foot. I have gunshot wounds and I am left with no mobility in my right leg. I am able to walk with support. I need help with my bills. I can’t work. I need baby necessities like disappears and clothing.”
Miami-Dade Police said they could not say why Forbes’s car was shot at. They did say they have leads and are looking for a shooter.
Anyone with information that can help should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
