5-year-old boy recovering well after shooting
FIVE-year-old Manenberg boy, Devonte Terry, who had been fighting for his life after being shot and wounded in a gang-related shooting a month ago, is said to be recovering well and even receiving schooling at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.
Just two weeks after having begun Grade R at Sonderend Primary School, Terry was shot and critically wounded in the head, just across from the school, at Seine Road and Thames Avenue, where he had been playing on February 5 at around 10am. His home was just metres away from where he was lying on the ground as residents rushed to the boy's side.
A 17-year-old was also killed in the shooting.
Grandmother Georgina said he had woken up two weeks ago, following a medically-induced coma. She said he was only able to eat soft foods such as yoghurts.
“He must go for physio. They’re considering sending him away for six months to rehab,” she said.
She was unable to say when exactly he would be discharged, but said even the stitches had been removed.
Terry will be celebrating his sixth birthday on April 15, and is the youngest of three siblings, aged 11, 10, and 5.
Georgina said three arrests have been made and that the suspects are gang members.
“They were chasing another guy, the one they shot dead, so he was in the crossfire, the small one. He was playing that side.
“He never played that side. If he plays, he plays here or under the tree but I don't know what took him to that side,” she said.
“Too many prayers went out and still they’re praying for him. Before this, he’d come in and jump on the couches and into my room, onto my bed.”