Recovery expected to take weeks for victim, 15

Fifteen-year-old Kyle Laman will probably be one of the last of the Florida school shooting victims to leave the hospital — but you won’t hear his mother complaining.

Kyle will be undergoing surgery Tuesday to reconstruct the ligaments damaged as one of the bullets tore through his ankle and foot. Recovery will probably mean another two weeks at Broward Health North.

“He’s alive and I can hug him,” said mom Marie Laman of Coral Springs.

The family recently moved to Coral Springs so Kyle would be able to attend Marjory Stoneham Douglas High School, his mother said.

Laman said the outpouring for her son has been incredible: food, flowers, gifts have flooded his hospital room. A visit from Gov. Rick Scott impressed her more than she ever expected.

“He got down on his knees [to be eye-level with Kyle in bed] and was warm and caring,” she said. “It seemed to come from the heart.”

The story her son told her about the shooting that killed three of his friends and 14 others was chilling, she said. He told her that Cruz looked him in the eye and started shooting. Her son dove for the floor in a way that distracted Cruz enough that other children were able to escape, she said.

“You don’t raise your 15-year-old to have stories like this,” she said.

Laman has been at the hospital throughout the ordeal. One other victim remains at Broward Health North in Deerfield Beach

“I feel like I’m stuck in a bad movie,” she said. “It’s surreal.”