Tragic car accident then Shot in the head two years after
My name is Reggie A. Jackson I was born on St. Croix United States Virgin Islands on January 27, 1990 where I’ve lived all my life. I was born the last child of four boys by my parents Michael A. Jackson and Myrna O. Jackson. On June 12, 2008 I graduated from the St. Croix Educational Complex High School. I then enlisted in the military “Army National Guard” on October 21, 2008 for a term of 6 years and was looking forward to serve my country with pride. While being in the army, I had plans to go college and study business. On December 25, 2008 while patiently waiting to go basic training I got into a major car accident. The car collided into a mahogany tree then flipped approximately 8 times and then impacted a light post. Some civilians saw the wreck and called the police. My second eldest brother Shawn A. Jackson was one of the first officers attending to my case. It was real emotional for him to see me like that. I was later then rescued by the rescue squad and carried to the St. Croix Juan F. Luis Hospital. I was found unresponsive. They transported me by air ambulance to Puerto Rico. I was admitted to the Centro Medico Trauma Hospital in Rio Piedras Puerto Rico. My Doctors performed multiple major surgeries on me. My brain suffered a broken vessel which was repaired. I also broke both my legs and fractured my pelvic bone. Both lungs collapsed. I was induced in a coma where I was unconscious for 2 months. When I was taken out of the coma I went into cardiac arrest and my heart stopped for 2 minutes due to my inability to breathe on my own. After all the anxiety and pain I was sent home to my God mother’s house which is in Toa Baja Puerto Rico. I stayed there recuperating for about a month. On March15, 2009 I finally came back home to St. Croix. Because of the severe trauma the National Guard gave me an honorable discharge. By the month of June I started to be much stronger and got back on my feet, living my normal life. Being that I spent lots of time in hospitals, I got interested in the medical field. In the month of October I started studying to become a certified nursing assistant (CNA) and got certified on January 28, 2010. After being certified my plans was to go Puerto Rico to further my medical studies by studying medicine and meet all the requirements needed to become a surgeon. On March 2, 2010 my eldest brother Kerry M. Jackson who now resides in Texas and was discharged from the Army after serving his tour of duty in Iraq came home to St. Croix to visit the family after 8 years of being away. On March 7, 2010 I decided to take him out at night; however I didn’t have any money on me so I decided to walk over to the ATM machine at the bank across the street very late that night. While walking to the bank I was accosted by three armed men who demanded money and my life. My response to them was I didn’t have money on me so one of them struck me in the back of my head with the firearm a couple times. I began trying to run but I couldn’t run very fast due to the injuries I sustained from the car accident. The culprits began to shoot after me. They shot after me three times and I got hit by two bullets, one in the back of my right shoulder and the other in the back of my head. The men ran away after I got shot and fell to the ground. Police and the ambulance were called. I was carried to the Juan f. Luis Hospital and was then transported once again to the Centro Medico Trauma Hospital in Puerto Rico. Dr. Vigo, my primary physician for the car accident case was assigned to me once again. Dr. Vigo told my father, who was my caretaker for both incidents that the bone was not completely healed from the car accident incident. Because of that, the pressure from the impact of the bullet exploded outward. And if it didn’t explode outward, the Dr. said I would be dead. As a result of this assault incident I lost a portion of the right hemisphere of my brain that lead to my weakness on the left side of my body. Being shot also demolished a great amount of my skull. I had to wait 6 months for the healing of my head and for the making of the plate used to reconstruct my skull. Finally on November 15th I did a major surgery to reconstruct my skull. The surgery was successful. I did the surgery on November 15, 2010 and although I was supposed to be held for 3 weeks recovery I was discharged the next day due to my speedy recovery. About a month later I finally came back home. I then decided to do college online while going therapy. On January 18, 2011 I enrolled in the Paralegal Studies course at the Penn Foster College online. I am now pursuing my associate degree while trying to recover from my disabilities. It is very hard to get over my problems but I am determined. I do know that with trust in God I will get where I want to be. I pray that I will succeed. The status of the case remains pending, although one of the shooters has been caught and placed under house arrest. Due to the fact that he has several assault cases with deadly weapons even against women and children. Since 2008 to 2010 those cases has yet been tried. The two other individuals involved in assaulting me have yet to be apprehended as of this date. Threats against my life have been acknowledged by family members by those individuals. God has been such a major help in my life and he is the number one person that made me strong enough to survive my ordeals in life. I praise him every day for his greatness and I know he definitely will reward me in the end of times for being such a grateful son to him. I hope to see more young people like me giving their life to God.
