etienne maurice @walkgoodetienne - Tumblr Blog

Ivy Coco by @walkgoodetienne

so this is going to be the last time i'm ever going mention this experience ever happening to me...Two years ago today I was robbed, beaten, and shot twice in my leg a week away from turning 22 years old. Picture this...I somehow get into a cab leaving a bar that was ironically called "Drinkers" at 1am with the intent of going to another party close by...Next thing I know its 4am and I am waking up in the ER at the UPenn Hospital with no clothes, no identification, no phone. Now what the f*** happened in between the hours of 1am and 4am. The nurse told me as calmly as she could that I was shot twice in my leg deeeep in West Philly. At this point i feel like i'm living in the twilight zone. SHOT? HOW? WHY ME?! Who would want to shoot me? I had all these questions. I searched every inch of my brain to figure out what events could have transpired for me to reach this point in my life. Till this day I can't figure out. Which is why I don't drink or smoke anymore. It's safe to say I was belligerently "drunk and high at the same time." Fast forward to today, I am 2 years sober, full of life, and ready to take on the world one day at a time. I still have nerve damage in my leg and will probably have it for a long time. Regardless, I'm happy to have my leg and able to run on it. I'm reminded every day that without God's grace I would not have made it to see 22, and yet would have joined the staggering high percentage of young black men losing their lives to gun violence. I'm alive! I want to thank my family, friends, Drexel faculty, doctors, nurses, detectives, and lawyers for their unwavering support in making sure that I was okay physically, mentally, spiritually. I cant thank you all enough for the hospital visits, prayers, and well wishes. What you see in this photo above is nothing other than Gods work. I stand before you humbled and grateful for every day I am able to wake up and thank God for the ability to walk this earth. And as for the father and son who robbed and shot me (yes you read that right), I forgive them. My mother might not, but I do. Yes what they did was wrong, but Luke 23:34 says “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Amen.