A Nov. 15 Metro article incorrectly identified the hospital where Katie Weyer spent her 17th birthday after she was accidentally shot at a pool party in Howard County. She was treated at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, not Johns Hopkins Hospital.
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From 'I'm Gonna Die' To Helping Save Others
Katie Weyer, right, has persuaded friends such as Megan Marland, left, to donate blood, telling them, "You could save a life."
(Photos By Susan Biddle -- The Washington Post)
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Allen called 911. Police and emergency workers arrived minutes later and loaded Weyer onto a cold yellow stretcher to be flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
She spent more than two months in the hospital. Her right lung collapsed, and doctors had to crack open her chest and massage her heart by hand to make it start beating again. She needed so much blood that the hospital ran out of her type, A negative. Her 17th birthday, six weeks after the shooting, was spent at John Hopkins Hospital with hospital staff and a few family members and friends. Weyer had wanted to have a big pool party.
"This was suppose to be the best summer of my life but instead it was the worst summer I will probably have," she said in written court testimony.
Allen told the court that he thought the gun was not loaded and that he did not intentionally aim at Weyer. He was convicted in June of reckless endangerment and sentenced to a 1 1/2 years in prison; he also had to take a gun safety class and tour the trauma unit where Weyer was treated. He was released in August.
Weyer found out that Allen was out of jail just after her 18th birthday. There is a good chance they might run into each other in the community -- at the gas station, or maybe at the mall. She's not sure what she would say to him if she saw him. She might just turn and walk away.
'Getting There, Slowly'
Weyer's mother, Susan, said Allen's parents came to the hospital a few days after the incident. They brought balloons and flowers and a card that said they were glad she was feeling better.
Katie Weyer knows that forgiving Allen would be the Christian thing to do -- the incident has brought her closer to God, she said. But that doesn't make it easy.
"I'm working on it. Getting there, slowly," she said.
For the Weyer family, normal is different now. Weyer finished her senior year at Glenelg High in the spring, returning just in time for the prom and graduation.
She is now in her freshman year at Howard County Community College; she stayed close to home for health reasons.
Her hospital bills have totaled more than $300,000. The Weyers have filed a civil suit against the Allens, who declined to be interviewed for this article.
Weyer and her mother have found a little piece of salvation: working with the Red Cross. It has become an avenue for them to channel the hurt and confusion they have felt since Katie was shot. As a team, they were named spokesmen of the year recently in their Red Cross region.
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