HOPE, Ind. — George Perez has watched his son, Kingston, fight for his life from a hospital bed for weeks after the 3-year-old was shot in the head June 1 at his home in Hope, Indiana.
The boy's own uncle was the alleged shooter.
"We understand he's injured, and he's not going to be 100% how he was, and we're alright with that," George said. "As long as we get to make him smile again, we're alright with that."
Kingston needed to be airlifted to Riley Hospital and was put into a medically-induced coma.
"There were many points throughout his course where we thought he would not make it, and I had multiple conversations with the family that we were at the end of our options and the things we could do for him, and he pulled through all of that," said Dr. Amy Hanson, a pediatric ICU fellow at Riley Hospital for Children.
After two brain surgeries, Kingston is now breathing on his own, and his father said he's participating in some physical and occupational therapy.
"As I keep telling his mom and dad, this is a long game," said Dr. Laurie Ackerman, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Riley Hospital for Children. "This is a story that's not over in a week or even a month, but recovery from this type of injury plays out over weeks and months and is very much a team effort."
"People are always asking what do you need? Our answer is continued prayers," George said. "We don't need anything except our son to make the best recovery he could possibly make."
Unfortunately, Kingston is one of many children affected by gun violence that's been treated at Riley Hospital. It's a problem doctors at the hospital say is getting worse.
"The quantity and severity of gunshot wounds that we've been seeing in this ICU, in the past year, has been mortifying," Hanson said. "We're seeing more of it, it's worse, and it's so, so, so preventable."
Riley said so far this year, they've treated 23 children for gunshot wounds. At least eight were unintentional or accidental and at least 11 were cases where the shooter was intentionally violent.
"Unfortunately, the United States has moved into first place among all countries in the world with gun violence being a cause of death in children. We are the only country in the world with that dubious distinction," Ackerman said. "I think that says something about us societally."
They hope more people will keep guns locked at home and out of the reach of kids. Riley itself has a safety store that offers two free gun locks for families per year.
"It's amazing for Kingston that we had heroic efforts on all ends and that he has pulled through, but that's not the case for a lot of the kids," Hanson said.
Riley also says its supply of donated blood is low and encourages people to donate. They say they depend on blood drives to help treat children suffering from gunshot wounds.