Shooting victim becomes doctor
It was almost a decade ago that Kevin Morton Jr. was shot almost to death in an Arby’s parking lot, and now he sits next to the woman that saved his life as he waits for his name to be called. He is graduating from medical school, where he will be the one saving lives now.
At the time of the shooting, he was only given a 10% chance of survival, but thanks to efforts by his surgeon, Dr. Dharti Sheth-Zelmanski, he is alive today and ready to begin helping others as he himself was helped. He had been attending college at the time he was injured, but his long work weeks at Arby’s to pay the bills were taking their toll on his grades.
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The Arby’s he worked at was on Detroit’s well known 8-Mile. He was aware of the dangers of working there and took steps to minimize the danger, but that night, his luck ran out. It was after midnight, and he had just closed the restaurant and was in his car ready to leave the parking lot when a face appeared at his driver’s side window. While he cannot recall if his attacker said anything, he did see the gun just before it was fired.
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The bullet entered his left side, and he attempted to drive himself to a nearby police station. He only made
it partway before he passed out and crashed his car. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was in and out of consciousness. He was put into a medically induced coma for several weeks and was lucky to survive at all.
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The bullet tore through his diaphragm and hit a major blood vessel as well as an artery. He had to have portions of his pancreas and small intestines as well as part of his colon removed to save his life. His lung collapsed, and due to complications from surgery, he was not able to eat solid food for a whole year. He was instead fed intravenously.
It was during his recovery that he decided that he wanted to pay it forward and become a doctor himself.
“I was so grateful to Dr. Sheth for saving my life and not giving up on me,” Morton, 31, says. “When you get a second chance at life you have a new-found purpose. I want to be like her. I want to be in the position to do what she did for me for others. Maybe there will be someone else who will come in with potential and all they need is a fighting chance.”
