Uncle claims his niece's hair weave stopped bullet, saved her life

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A Chicago teen survived being shot in the head Tuesday, and her uncle claims her weave may have helped save her life.

“[Doctors] assumed that when the bullet kind of went in, it bounced out because she had the weave in her hair,” Chantal Hammontree’s uncle Randy Berry told NBC Chicago.

According to authorities, the 18-year-old was sitting in a car when shots were fired. Hammontree was the only person struck.

The girl’s uncle told NBC Chicago he believes it was gang related.

“There was the ‘East Side, West Side’ type of thing going on. [The shooter(s)] told her because she was affiliated with him, they were going to shoot her also.”

This incident follows what was a deadly Fourth of July weekend. Eleven people were killed and over 60 people shot.

Doctors at the University of Chicago Hospital, where Hammontree was taken, have not confirmed that her weave played a role in deflecting the bullet.

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals.