Pellet Gun Accidentally Fires; Georgia 13-Year-Old Now Paralyzed

CAMILLA, GA — A Georgia teen is paralyzed after a pellet gun accidentally went off while he was celebrating his 13th birthday with a friend. David Chapman, of Camilla, was in his backyard Nov. 10 shootin at cans when he put the pellet rifle down. It fired, and a pellet struck him in the back of the head, Becky Griffin, the boy's second cousin, told Patch in a Facebook message.

The pellet went through his spinal cord and became lodged in his vertebrae. Doctors opted to leave it there.

"He is now paralyzed from neck down," Griffin said.

A GoFundMe account established to raise money for the parents had raised $1,000 out of a $10,000 goal by Sunday.

"It was shocking. I mean to know that he loves to be outside. He’s a 13-year-old child, and to know that his life, it totally changed for the rest of his life,"the boy's aunt Sherry Casterline told WABL-TV on Friday.

David remains in the pediatric intensive care unit at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. He now must use a ventillator. The family plans to transfer him to a hospital in Atlanta for more specific care.

Camilla is small city of about 5,000 people in Mitchell County. It's about 180 miles south of Atlanta.

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Photo credit: GoFundMe