StemCell Therapy

QUEENS A Bronx mother, who watched her only son rally from a gunshot wound to the head on July 4, 2019, mourned his loss outside the Queens rehab center where he spent the final months of his life.

He lived this for 13 months, Nicole Backmon said of her son Sammy, 21, outside the Park Terrace Care Center in Corona, Queens. He was a warrior.

Sammy Backmon was one face of gun violence in a city where most victims dont make headlines.

At age 20, he suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was hit by a bullet while coming home to the family apartment on Hull Avenue in the Bronx; he was celebrating the Fourth of July holiday.

He was walking home from the train and shots were fired, his uncle, Alex Rodriguez, said, and he got hit in the back of the head.

Sammy Backmon spent weeks in the intensive care unit at St. Barnabas Hospital, where he suffered brain damage that affected his speech, memory, mobility and eyesight.

The vision was really, really bad, Sammys uncle recalled. He couldnt see anything, except for a blurry silhouette.

But the family said Sammy Backmon improved remarkably after spending two months at Burke Rehab in White Plains. He was later transferred to the facility in Queens that accepted Medicaid payments.

His vision gradually got much better.

In February, wearing a helmet on his damaged skull, family cell phone videos showed physical therapists helping Sammy Backmon to start walking again.

He was almost walking independently, his mother said.

But the young man was having recurring issues with blood clots and circulation.

He made it through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in new York without getting sick, but it did have an impact on his general health.

When COVID hit, PT really slowed down, Sammys uncle recalled. He started gaining weight, he wasnt moving, his circulation wasnt good.

Surgery to put a steel plate in Sammy Backmons head was repeatedly delayed.

On June 26, Sammy Backmon enjoyed a reunion with his extended family, dining outdoors in the Bronx after a visit to a medical clinic there.

His uncle took videos, joking it was Quarantine Friday, while one of Sammy Backmons little cousins ran around the table.

In late July, Sammy Backmon finally underwent the surgery to put the plate in his head where a piece of his skull used to be.

The family said it was a success.

But on August 10, Nicole Backmon got a call she wasnt prepared for.

Sammy Backmon, her only son, was dead at 21.

They think he had a seizure, Nicole Backmon said.

Sammy Backmons death certificate said he died of complications from a gunshot wound. His family wants an autopsy performed, and theyve started a GoFundMe page to defray funeral expenses.

His mother wants the public to know he endured a lot during the months he spent in a long-term care facility.

My son suffered in silence, Nicole Backmon said. He didnt tell me everything.

Read more from the original source:
Bronx son survived gunshot wound to head, but recovery took its toll, and his life - WPIX 11 New York

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