Last October, Aireana and her boyfriend were driving through Oakland when a man on the street opened fire on their car. Her two children, ages 6 and 1, were in the backseat. Aireana, who asked to be identified only by her first name, remembers feeling something slam into her jaw and hearing a sound like a firecracker popping in her head. Her boyfriend hit the accelerator and swerved down the street. He and Aireana turned at the same moment to check on the kids. They were safe. Then her boyfriend looked at her and saw blood spurting from her neck. "Oh, my God," he said, panicking, and crashed into a parked car.
In the shock after the crash, Aireana had only one coherent thought: I cannot die in front of my kids. They cannot see me die. She unbuckled her seat belt and pushed herself out of the car. As she stood, she felt dizzy and closed her eyes. But the thought of her children propelled her forward. They can't see my body lying here dead. Still dazed, she walked away from the car. She could hear her daughter screaming behind her, "My mom's dying!"
[For more of this story, written by Lois Beckett, go to http://www.propublica.org/arti...n-year-old-with-ptsd]
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