Update On Girl Who Took Bullet For Her Mom

Kelly Mills — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:38:00 GMT

I'm sorry, but this story just got to me when it came out, so I'm glad to give the update. Some of you might remember that Alexis Goggins threw herself in front of bullets intended for her mother. When the gunman was about to open fire on Seliethia Parker, Alexis cried "Don't hurt my mother!" and ended up with six gunshot wounds, putting her in critical condition and blinding her in one eye.

So what's the word on Alexis now? After six surgeries and two months in the hospital, she's doing well. She has several scars and attends physical therapy twice a week, and she will be fitted for an artificial eye soon. Her mother says she rarely speaks about the shooting, and only remembers pieces of it. But Alexis also received over 200 letters of support from folks who heard her story, and a fund set up to help her through school has collected $30,000. Her mother says, "I'm thanking God every day that me and my baby are still here. It has taught me to...appreciate the smaller things in life." Sniff. Time to go hug my daughter now.

Photo: Associated Press

7-Year-Old Girl Puts Herself Between Mom and Bullets

Kelly Mills — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:33:00 GMT

Hey, it's time to get weepy with the Derby. See, sometimes as parents we can barely write about the stuff in the news because we use up too many tissues and risk electrocution from tears on our laptops. But let's give it a go anyway: Selitha Parker dated Calvin Tillie for a few months before breaking it off. But Tillie kept calling and bothering Parker, and on December 2, when Parker and her 7-year-old daughter Alexis Goggins climbed into the SUV of a friend on the way to the friend's mom's birthday party, Tillie jumped into the backseat of the vehicle next to Alexis. He pulled a gun and forced them to drive around, until the friend convinced Tillie she needed to stop for gas and called 911 with the station attendant.

When she and the attendant heard shots they ran back to the vehicle, and saw Alexis curled up under the steering wheel in a pool of blood. She had leaped from the backseat to the front seat, shielding her mother with her body, saying, "Don't hurt my mother!" Six bullets hit Alexis, piercing her eye and striking her jaw and chin. She was blinded in that eye, and has undergone three operations since the shooting. Parker was struck with two slugs, and while seriously wounded, she was well enough to be released from the hospital a few days later. Tillie was arrested at the scene.

Parker said, "My baby is just an angel to her mother. I thought as the mother, I'd be saving my child. I never thought my daughter would be saving me." At Alexis' special education classroom at school (she has learning disabilities, suffered a stroke before age 1 and has epilepsy) classmates named a stuffed toy "Hero" and put it in her seat because they didn't want her chair to remain empty. Her teacher showed off her recent progress in writing letters in a journal. Parker's cousin said, "I know she can do it. There's no stopping Alexis. It may take her a little longer now because of this. But she is a fighter."

Feel free to sob without restraint.

Associated Press photo by Carlos Osorio

Strollerderby : alexis goggins

Update On Girl Who Took Bullet For Her Mom

7-Year-Old Girl Puts Herself Between Mom and Bullets