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May 15, 2008 4:55 pm US/Eastern
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50 Years, 50 Families: John Keilman
NEW CASTLE (KDKA) ―
It only took one gunshot 11 years ago to change the life of a whole family.
The 14-year-old boy victim was paralyzed.
But today he is a young man and the unborn baby he was protecting when he was shot is a growing girl. They are next recipients of Roomful Express's 50 Years, 50 Families program.
John Keilman says he was at a home in New Castle when some acquaintances got in a fight. He says one man left then returned with a gun and started randomly shooting. Keilman was hit through a storm door.
Keilman and his mother, Dee Carlisle, agree that his daughter, Johnalynn, is the bright spot in their days. She was named after her dad, who saved her life.
Carlisle says Keilman pushed his girlfriend, who was pregnant at the time of the shooting, out of the way. The bullet hit him in the spine.
Today, Keilman lives in his own house now where Johnalynn stays every other weekend.
"She basically helps me with everything I need help with," says Keilman. "If I'm in bed and I need a pair of socks, she'll go get me a pair of socks."
Carlisle says she has been by her son's side the seven times he has been in the hospital since the shooting and helps him with his many medications, appointments and insurance issues.
"When there's times I need something and I can't get it paid for, I go without it," he says.
But Keilman says it will be a big help to get the $3,000 worth of furniture from Roomful Express.
Meanwhile, the man convicted of shooting Keilman, Richard Miller, is in prison serving a 17 to 34 year sentence.
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